


Ace's in Spades

by Shorknado



Category: Ash vs Evil Dead (TV), Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Child Death, Demonic Possession, Hand Jobs, Hmm sorry thars after the sad tags, Illegal Activities, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Meet-Cute, Murder, Recreational Drug Use, Road Trips, Shower Sex, The Necronomicon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-05-15 17:38:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19300549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shorknado/pseuds/Shorknado
Summary: Ash is getting rid of The Necronomicon for good this time. Thankfully his friends have hooked him up with an escort that will get him out of the United States and to the Honduras where he can finally get someone else to deal with his mess.It's always getting there that's the problem. Ash has always been a lucky guy, but he can't compare to the Ace in the hole. It's going to be a long trip.Groovy.





	1. Ride The Lightning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was gonna be like 4 paragraphs but a lot of ppl liked it on tumblr so i wrote more and well fuck guess im doing this now. Mostly based in the ash vs evil dead universe but youll figure it out.
> 
> Buckel up

Ash was drunk at the Meskwaki Casino, right where God intended him to be. He leans back in his chair and looks at the one man in the room that had handled more cocaine than him. He stires his drink, watching the ice clink around in the cola and rum, wondering where the fuck his escort was. Ash glances at his watch, annoyed to see it was only half past eleven. Meaning this shit head wasn't late, but was cutting it close. He was going to give Pablo a fucking earful for skimping out on back up. If they were going to call in help they might as well call someone-

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a woman named Ashley? She's supposed to be sitting at this table, didn't scare her off did ya?"

Ash looks up to see a guy around his age, in the same state of casual dress compared to the suits around him. The hat and sunglasses indoors really made him look like a grade A asshole, which is impressive since he had high standards for assholes considering he was the fucking king of being an asshole.

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm afraid the Ashley you're lookin' for is me."

He can practically feel the man's eyes trail down his body despite being covered by his aviators, he is happy to note his lips quirk up into a grin as he pulls a chair out and sits down.

"Waste not want not. I'm Ace by the way." He says, holding out his right hand to shake.

This was Ash's favorite party trick, he holds out his wooden hand and Ace takes it. A few seconds pass and the man looks down, lips opening in an oh of surprise.

"Call me Ash."

"Sure thing buddy." Ace replies, pulling his hand away and leaning back in his seat with that little smirk. He looked like an old Hollywood movie star, very charming.

"You have the stuff right? The suitcase full of fun?" Ash asks, drinking the last of his rum and cola before setting it aside.

"Oh yeah, passport, international money orders, some party favors. You got the firearms?" Ace replies smoothly, resting his head on a hand looking ill at ease with talk of illegal dealings.

"Oh I got the firearms. Hope you're not attached to your ride 'cause we're takin' mine."

Ace shrugs at that, waving a waitress down and ordering a rum and soda before turning back to him with a charming smile. Ash narrows his eyes, he was pretty dumb but he knew well enough to be wary around people like Ace. Sweet talkers, charmers, gamblers, that sort of-

"So what are you guys trying to get me to smuggle out of the country, huh? No offense but your Buddy isn't exactly the best at making excuses for himself."

"Necromnomicon, book of the dead. You heard of it?" Ash replies without thinking, immediately regretting it. He really needed to shut the fuck up about that book, it causes him a lifetime of trouble. Ace raises his eyebrows over his sunglasses.

"I've heard of it..." Ace says slowly before leaning in dropping his voice, "Look I know you Americans don't really believe in...ghost stuff, so when you say Necronomicon you mean the real thing, right? Human flesh bound, blood ink, the whole shebang?"

Ash stares at the other man in surprise as the waitresses sets Ace's drink down between them and wanders off. He honestly didn't expect the guy to know what the fuck he was talking about and take it seriously. Then again Pablo said he was getting the best help he could find.

"How do you know about it?" Ash shoots back. He can almost sense Ace rolling his eyes as he takes a sip from his rum and coke.

"I know Pablo through his uncle, Brujo. God rest his soul." Ace says, doing the sign of the cross, "Anyway he mentioned it once or twice when we worked together in passing."

"And you believed him?" Ash asks in shock. That guy was a freak, although the trip he gave him was the best he had in years. He didn't believe half the shit that came out of his witchy mouth.

"Listen Gringo, I don't take El Brujo's words for granted." Ace says, waving a hand as if to clear away the bad impression Ash was no doubt making, "Wish Pablo was more upfront about me with this job."

"Sorry about that." Ash lies.

"Don't sweat it Lefty." Ace downs the rest of his drink and stands, grinning down at Ash, "Let's get going. I imagine you can't stay still too long, and I wanna talk in private."

He watches in amusement as Ace literally lowers his sunglasses to wink at him. Ash stands and leads him out. He finds his beat up Delta amidst the cars in the lot with his trailer on the back. Ace looks at in incredibly unimpressed.

"What?"

"Hmm? Oh nothing, nothing. Let me go get my suitcase from my car."

Ash tilts his head, leaning against the hood of his car, "You just gonna leave it here?"

"It's a rental." Ace says with a handwave before walking off into the darkness across the lot.

Ash watches him leave, noting that he had a pretty nice ass even if he wasn't wearing the most flattering pair of jeans. He pulls out the little notepad Pablo had given him with instructions for how to proceed. Half of the bullet points were reminding him to eat well and drink water. Sweet, but he wasn't senial yet. After he met up with their border escort they needed to drive all the way to Louisiana. Which was thankfully only a day or so drive that would most likely take a week for him. He always accounted for Deadites ruining his travel time, and then meet up with Pablo and Kelly on the shores of the gulf before they all set sail into the sunset towards whatever not Mexico place Pablo was from to pass the Necromnomicon off with someone who would destroy it for good. Sweet, simple, and much easier than time travel.

He shoves the notebook back in his pocket as Ace walks up, bright pink suitcase rolling behind him. It's so comically bright he can't believe it's filled with illegal tender.

"Where to, Ashy?" Ace asks, walking around to the passenger side of the car, "Gonna show me a good time?"

Ash opens the drivers side and Ace follows suit, tossing the garish case into the backseat before relaxing in his seat. Ash starts the car and pops his roadtrip tape into the cassette player. Highway to Hell starts playing as he pulls out of the Casino parking lot.

"That car really a rental?" Ash asks, popping his wooden hand off and grabbing his robotic one out from under the seat.

"Well technically. I stole it, but only for a few hours. The owners will get it back soon enough." Ace says dismissively.

Nothin' was hotter to Ash than grand theft auto. He clicks his other hand into place and glances over at Ace, the man had taken off his sunglasses and placed them on top of his hat. He had a nice face that was marred by deep purple bags under his pretty hazel eyes. Ash practically feels tired looking at him.

"Do you just not sleep or is that a double black eye?"

Ace snorts in response and leans the seat back with a small yawn, "Haven't slept in a bit I'll be honest. Hate to be so trusting, but mind if I catch a nap?"

"Go ahead."

"Don't molest me." Ace warns.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Ash rolls his eyes and flips Ace off with his good hand. After a few minutes of driving he spares a glance at Ace and is relieved to see him getting some sleep. This was looking to be a fun trip.

\---

"Tails."

Ash catches the coin in his flesh hand, waiting for a moment before opening his hand and looking down at the quarter.

"You're cheating."

"Was I right?"

Ash throws the quarter out the cracked window of the trailer and turns to glare down at Ace's impassive face. The man simply shrugs from his spot on Ash's bed before taking a hit from the blunt.

"How the fuck did you get that right six times in a row. What the fuck?"

"Born lucky."

Ash huffs and digs a nickel out of his pocket. He flips it before catching it in his hand, clenching his fist around the cool metal.

"Hmmm....heads. It's a bison nickel too."

He opens his hand and stares in abject horror at the bison of the nickel. The bovine stares up at him, and he chucks the nickel out the window too before sitting on the bed next to Ace. He had only known the guy for less than a day and he already loved him. Not only was he great at getting them absolutely lost, Ace was amazing at party tricks involving cards, petty theft, and rolling blunts. They were at least a day behind schedule and he wasn't even mad about it. After Ace woke up from his nap he offered to drive and miraculously drove them right back to the casino. Ash had taken the wheel and driven them all the way to a lot in front of a standard shitty almost secluded office building where he crashed for a few hours. As soon as he woke up Ace had the weed ready and he couldn't say no to a good time.

He figured it was time to take their relationship to the next level after a three hour smoke session, and bust out the book of the dead. This always ended well. He scoots to the end of his bed and pops open the chest, digging past the shotgun shells and revolvers to the book buried below.

"Check this shit out." Ash says, causing Ace to sit up and next to him. An odd expression falls over the unhidden parts of his face.

"That the...book?" Ace asks as he tugs his sunglasses off and tucks them into his shirt pocket.

"Sure is." Ash replies with a grin, running his fingers over the cold flesh of the cover, "Bound in skin, inked in blood. Can't fucking get ride of it!"

Ace holds out the blunt in responds, "¿Queries?"

"Trade me." He says, taking the blunt and dumping the book in Ace's lap.

He watches the man touch the bound human leather gently before opening it. Ace moved as if the thing was going to bite him, which wouldn't be all that surprising. As takes a hit of the blunt before sniffing it out in the ashtray. Ace was staring at the little notes he had still on a few pages of translated text. He really should burn those notes, more trouble than they were worth.

"Don't read from it. Unless you wanna call forces of evil dead to attack, and I am not in the mood for my chainsaw hand!"

Ace rolls his eyes, flipping the pages and staring at the illustrations with interest, "I'm not stupid, Ashy. Know better than to mess with this demon shit."

Before Ash can snap back at Ace he hears a loud pounding on his trailer door. He really hopes that's not the cops, considering this whole room was hotboxed to Hell an hour ago. He leaves Ace to the book and opens the door, relieved to see an annoyed looking office worker and not the boys in blue.

"What?"

"Sir you need to leave our parking lot. You've been here for five hours and we're getting complaints. If you're not gone soon I will have to call the cops." The man says flatly. Ash considers taking the glasses off his face throwing them in the gutter, but decides not to.

Instead he closes the door firmly and turns back to Ace, who was still flipping through the book.

"We gotta go soon, some nine to five says he's gonna call the cops on us for loitering. No respect these days!"

Ash laughs at his own joke and looks around for his keys, completely forgetting where he put them. Did he leave them in the Delta again. He looks at Eli's tank and smiles in relief to see them sitting innocently in his water bowl.

"Thanks, buddy." He whispers as he grabs the keys and turns to Ace, only to see him mouthing the words of the translated text. Is nothing easy?

There's another bang on the door, louder this time. Much more forceful. Ash stomps over to Ace and slams the book shut, startling the man as he shoves it back in the trunk.

"What I'm about to do next is on you." Ash snaps, feeling a bit bad at seeing Ace's hurt expression as he grabs the shotgun leaning against the wall and cocks it.

The door to the trailer rips open, and the office worker jumps in. A snarling abomination with stark white eyes and...well a very plain looking everything else.

"You can't outrun us forever, Ash!"

The deadite lunges at him, and he levels the shotgun at its head. He squeezes both triggers, and before the thing can get halfway to him its entire left eye and up is blown off. Gore drips off its skull pieces as it stumbles down, what remains of its glasses fall and shatter on the floor. Shit, that was supposed to take its entire head off, not just the left. He was way too high for this.

"Ace can you be a doll and grab my chainsaw? Its right over-"

As he turns, Ace stands up behind him and fires four quick shots from one of the pistols he keeps lying around. He turns back to see what remains of the Deadites head a puddle of lead and brainy mash. All the other parts are sprayed over his trailer like silly string.

"Nice shot lucky strike."

"Thanks." Ace replies, replacing his sunglasses and looking down at the demon with a sad expression, "Man he was just a kid. Now I feel like shit."

"Well you should! That's why we don't read from the book of the dead!" Ash shoots back, dropping the shotgun on the bed and walking over to the body, "Help me move this guy, we gotta go now."

Ace walks over and grabs the guys arms, together they manage to drag the corpse outside and over to the dumpster without too much trouble. He feels bad throwing the body in the trash, so instead he awkwardly leans it against the dumpster so it would look more like a headless drunk guy than a viciously murdered man. As he does this Ace busies himself with taking the guys watch.

"Oh come on, he's not even cold are you really going to rob him?" Ash asks as Ace pulls the guys wallet out of his pocket and leafs through it.

"He ain't usin' it!" Ace deflects, pulling at least fifteen dollars from the wallet before looking at his license, "Dwight Fairfield? Oh shit this guy was thirty-seven!"

"No way!" Ash snatches the licence from Ace's hand and reads it, "What the hell, he looked younger than me at twenty!"

"Well, at least he'll have a closed casket."

Ash drops the licenses on the corpses lap and holds in a laugh. That was dark, even by his standards. He starts making his way back to the Delta, noting that the demon didn't rip his door off his hinges which was nice.

"Can I drive?" Ace asks innocently, tightening the straps on his new watch.

"Will you get us lost again?"

Ace replies with a low snicker, and Ash throws him the keys. Which he catches perfectly, the bastard.

"No promises."

Ash gets into the passenger seat and leans back as Ace walks his pretty ass around to the drivers side and starts the car up.

"Just so you know all your Necronomicon privileges are revoked."

"Heh, fair enough. Don't know what came over me there."

Ash shrugs, happy that Ace wasn't having a mental breakdown over committing what many thought to be murder. He hated traveling with pussies.

"I'm still waitin to see that chainsaw hand you keep talking about." Ace says, changing the dial on the radio before stopping at a station playing Come on Eileen.

"Oh you will soon. I have a feeling they're on my tail again."

"Anything I should know about taking those things out?" Ace asks, taking the correct turn onto the highway for once.

"Yeah, you gotta destroy the head. Only thing that keeps them down short of full body dismemberment. That's where the chainsaw comes in handy."

He watches Ace sigh and shake his head before turning to look at him with the winning lopsided smiles. The sun reflects off his glasses, and the wind gently ruffles his hair as the Delta continues south. Ash finds himself at a loss for words, which some would argue is normal.

"What did you get me into, Ashy?"

He hated that nickname, but for Ace he could make an exception.

"The time of your life, lucky strike."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever get sick pf writing fics about dwight? Ever wanna go fucking ape shit. The first half of this fic os just waylon jenmings live by the mountain goats
> 
>  
> 
> Groovy.


	2. Ballroom Blitz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me and ash share a brain cell since we're both from michingan

"Maybe if you didn't throw those quarters out the window-"

"It was thirty cents you ass, not thirty dollars. It wouldn't make a difference!" Ash snaps, looking at the Delta parked demure next to a pump. At least they made it to the shitty little town before the thing ran out of gas. Just barely pulling into the gas station before dying completely.

"Can't believe you don't have gas money." Ace continues, waving his hand dismissively and walking towards the street. Ash follows close behind, not wanting Ace to ditch him in Missouri. That was not a call to Pablo he wanted to make.

"I had to buy a bunch of cleaning supplies two towns ago since someone read from the Book of the Dead!" Ash whines, "Stop complaining unless you're going to do something about it!"

"Oh I am." Ace says, crossing the street and beelining to a seedy bar with a few motorcycles parked out front.

Ash frowns at the back of Ace's head, wondering what his deal was. Getting drunk at a bar was something he enjoyed doing when he was stuck in the middle of nowhere and out of gas, but then again if Ace was planning on getting drunk...then he had to have money from the Deadite in Iowa. Ace holds the door open for Ash, revealing a surprisingly active bar. Plenty of truckers and townies hanging around along with the owners of the bikes outside playing pool in the corner. Ace walks over to the bar and hops up on a stool, Ash following dutifully behind.

"Here's the plan," Ace begins, turning on the stool to face Ash with his lopsided grin, "We're gonna get some cash from the bikers."

Ash raises his eyebrows, "Uh huh..."

"How good are you at pool."

He wonders if he should lie or tell the truth.

"Pretty damn good." He lies.

"Great! So what we do is play a few rounds, three at the most. We win the first, lose the second, and close call but lose the third."

Ash nods, pretending to understand what the fuck Ace was planning.

"Then on the fourth we go all in with office boys money, knowing those guys they'll go all in too. We could probably get at least two hundred off em." Ace finishes.

Ash nods, finally seeing the big picture. He wasn't terrible at pool, the missing hand did him no favors, but Ace seemed confident. And how good could a couple of dumbass bikers be? This would be a cinch.

"Let's rock and roll." He says, sliding off the bar stool and saunters over to the group of four standard looking brutish bikers.

"He fellas, mind if me and my buddy here play a round of scotch doubles with you?" Ash says, all the confidence in the world dripping off his voice. The bikers immediately square up to him, and he knows the game is on. The guys start setting up the table, and Ace passes him a pool cue with a subtle nod.

"We playin scotch doubles..." Ace says casually, leaning against the table, "Home breaks first."

"I'm feelin gracious, how about you break." One of the more talkative bikers says, gesturing to the triangle of balls, "If you scratch, we win. Sink the eight you win, otherwise standard rules."

"Sounds good to me." Ace replies, setting a twenty on the table. A man in a leather vest and no shirt with a plethora of tattoos throws another twenty on the table. He glances at Ace, and the man nods to the triangle.

"You go first."

Ash shrugs, grabbing the white ball and setting it on the dot he was supposed to and awkwardly setting his clunky robotic hand on the table to steady the cue. He can hear the bikers chuckle, laughing at a disabled man? So fucking rude. He pulls the cue back and hits the white ball without much finesse. It hits the striped ball at the base of the pyramid and they all scatter. He watches with interest as the balls knock around the table in a mundane display of Newton's Laws of Motion. The balls begin to slow their useless rolling about, none having sunk in any holes, which he figures isn't a great thing.

Until the eight ball drops lovingly into the left corner socket. If he remembers correctly, thats a win.

"Groovy."

Ace holds up his right hand for a high five and Ash refuses to leave him hanging. He smirks at the two bikers, gloating at the frowns on their faces. Suck it, fuckers.

"Well fellas, that was a good round. Wanna go for a rematch?" Ash asks, grinning at them as if he won the lottery, which he sort of did.

"Fine, you yankee fuck." Vest boy says, resetting the table.

"Double or nothin'." Ace adds, subtly elbowing Ash, promoting him to pull the last ten dollar bill he had hidden in his pocket. The other, silent biker drops a fifty on the pile. Bringing the pool up to enough gas money to get them out of this shit hole state.

"We break." Vest boy says, taking his spot at the front of the table. Ash takes a step back, waving his arm and letting the others have a round to get their ass kicked.

The break goes poorly, since they don't get an instant win like him, which happens to less fortunate men. They sink a solid ball, designating Ash and Ace to stripes. The Silent one goes up and takes a shot, easily sinking another solid ball. Ace nudges him again, and he returns to the table. Examining it closely.

He had no fucking idea what to do. So he hits the white ball and watch it knock a couple other balls around. What a fucking game. He backs off and lets Ace go, watching the man's brow furrow in concentration as he looks at the table. From this angle he can see Ace's eyes under the shades, they shine with a sort of drive he's only seen on a few people before. Ace takes a shot and sinks a ball, he's pretty sure its theirs.

The match goes back and fourth until inevitably the other team wins. Ash huffs, playing up being annoyed when asking for a rematch. Ace follows suit, looking mildly annoyed but still playfully poking at the bikers until vest boy drops a hundred bill on the pile. Ash can practically feel the excitement rolling off Ace in waves. The bikers set up the table, and Ace waves Ash over a few feet away. Leaning in close to whisper.

"Nice one, almost fooled me with how bad you were."

"It's a gift." Ash says with a shrug. He wasn't really that bad was he? Sure he only sunk like one ball but that was fine since he won the first round. He stands back, letting the bikers take their first shot.

The balls scatter as they should, and he glances at Ace's placid face to see if that was good or not. He can't discern a damn thing from the others cocky smirk, except for how nice it looked. He can't help but wonder what drove Ace to do this sort of thing, and how it came to him so easily. He was never good at reading people past getting them to fuck him.

He hears the door crash as Ace steps forward to take a shot. He looks over to see a tall large man in a beat up leather jacket burst in. Guess there were three bikes out there, did he wanna join? Vest boy turns to look at the man and frowns.

"Jeff? You ok there?"

The man, Jeff, turns and fixes Ash with his dead white eyes and twisted features hidden under his beard. He sighs, and grabs his shot gun from his holster. Before he can take aim at the guy he surges forward, vaulting the table and taking a swing at Ash. Thankfully Vest boy and the other biker grab the Deadites arms, stopping his charge.

"Hey I wouldn't-" Ash winces and the Deadite rips vest boys arm off with a sickening twist and tug, spaying blood everywhere. The man screams, and the bar goes crazy.

He looks over to see Ace snatch the pile of bills off the table, slip by the biker still sporting his arms and beat everyone else out the door. Figures.

The first Deadite shoves the one armed biker away. He slams into the jukebox and slides to the floor, still screaming in fear as the Deadite shoves its hand into the gut of the other biker, ripping out some organ and dropping it to the floor. Ash cocks his shotgun as the jukebox starts playing the first cords of a vaguely familiar song.

"What's wrong, lost without your boyfriend?" The Deadite coos, walking towards him. Ash carefully starts circling the pool table, keeping it in between him and the Deadite as he trains his shotgun on him.

"He's not my boyfriend, we're business partners." Ash replies, kicking the dismembered arm away as he revolves around the pool table, "Why are you freaks still here anyway? Ruby's dead, so is Baal. Don't you have anything better to do?"

A hand wraps around Ash's leg, and he looks down to see the white eyes of another Deadite. Right, right, figures. He aims the shotgun and fire, blasting the second Deadites hand off at the wrist. Just as Deadite number one snaps a pool cue on his back. Thankfully his holster takes the brunt of the energy, and he stumbles forward slipping on the blood and landing on his ass. He watches his shotgun slide under the pool table and curses under his breath. Ash rolls quickly to the left as Deadite one brings the broken point of the pool que down onto the floor next to his head. Slipping on blood Ash gets ungracefully to his feet and runs to the bar.

"Oh it's been getting so hard, living with the things you do to me. My dreams are getting so strange, I'd like to tell you everything I see..." The jukebox wails as Ash grabs a bottle of bud light and breaks it over the counter top.

Thankfully the bar had cleared out of screaming people, so it was just him and three Deadites. He points the bottle at the armless Deadite and grins

"Come get some."

The thing rushes forward predictably. Ash braces a foot against the bar, waiting for the Deadite to get a foot away before he lunges forward. Planting the sharp glass right in the things eye before leaning against the bar and kicking it away with both feet. It stumbles back, not nearly as far as he hoped it would though. Damn these husky guys and their weight. He rushes forward, ducking under the single flailing arm of the now blinded Deadite and running a few paces before kicking his right leg out into a slide. The other two Deadites miss him completely as he slides under the pool table. Coming to a stop next to his shotgun.

Groovy.

He grabs it and rolls out from under the table, rising to a crouch he quickly takes aim at the nearest Deadite head and shoots. For the best results he had to aim at the base of the skull to blow the whole head off, and it works like a charm. The Deadite with what was presumably a kidney and missing hand loses one more body part and drops to the ground. Ash pumps the shotgun and stands, aiming at Deadite number one and pulling the trigger. This shot isn't as accurate, blowing right by the approaching demon and hitting the one without an arms shoulder, sending it stumbling away with its last arm hanging by the socket.

The first Deadite snarls, and grabs the pool table. He throws the heavy oaken thing away and it crashes through the bars windows with a loud shattering of glass. It runs at Ash, and he sidesteps easily. He flips the shotgun in his hand and wacks the back of the Deadites head with the sturdy handle. The skull caves in slightly, but not nearly enough to kill the thing.

"Ash!"

He looks up at the familiar voice, overjoyed to see Ace through the broken window and even happier to see him holding his chainsaw, he shoves his shotgun in the holster quickly. Ash pops off his robotic hand, and Ace tosses the chainsaw towards him before vaulting through the broken window. Ash catches it and attaches it to his stump, he revs the engine and feels the machine vibrations all the way up his remaining arm. He turns at the sound of glass shattering to see Ace slide over the bar before turning and grabbing the armless Deadite, pulling it halfway onto the bar in a chokehold.

"...Oh reaching out for something, touching nothing's all I ever do. Oh I softly call you over, when you appear there's nothing left of you...." The jukebox continues to blare as Ash approaches the struggling Deadite.

With a revv of his chainsaw, Ash slams the blade just below its arm socket. Blood and gore spray everywhere as the Deadite struggles in Ace's firm grip. He tries not to grin as he slowly saws the deadite into two, but he's unable to stop a cry of joy as its lower half falls to the ground, spraying entrails all over his boots. Ace drops the upper half, and Ash quickly crushes the twitching head under his boot before looking up at Ace. Blood drips off the men's sunglasses and hat.

"Hail to the king, baby!"

Ace snickers and climbs over the bar, his feet squelching in the guts of the Deadite as he lands. The lower half of his shirt is pristine and pink, while the upper front half was dark red with gore.

"Sorry I left without warning. Figured you needed that." Ace says, tapping the chainsaw motor before taking off his sunglasses. There was a perfect rim of clean skin around his eyes as he tucks the shades into his front pocket.

"Where's the other guy?"

Ash blinks, and turns around to see the deadite that should have been laying on the floor waiting to be shot, gone. That was not good. He walks across the floor, stopping to remove the Deadite hand that was still gripping his ankle, before sticking his head out of the broken window to look around. The street was dead, and the last of the daylight was dying. He could hear police sirens in the distance too. Ace walks up next to him, and climbs out the window carefully.

"We better get out of here."

Ash follows behind, jogging back to the Delta as Ace goes into the pay for gas. He scans the streets for any sign of the remaining Deadite, but unfortunately the streets are pretty empty as he pulls out. Gunning the gas and getting the literal fuck out of dodge.

"Thanks for not running off."

"Heh, did I scare you back there?"

Ash shrugs, not really wanting to admit he had been a little worried that Ace stole his car and ran. Wouldn't be the first time he had his car stolen and abandoned.

"Nah, just worried you'd get jumped out there." He deflects, shifting uncomfortably and staring ahead. They needed to find a truck stop as soon as they got further out.

"Don't worry Ash, I can handle myself." Ace replies reassuringly, "Can't say this shit is normal, but I've been in some fucked up situations myself."

Ash glances over at Ace for the first time, and he's oddly relieved to see an easy smile on the mans face. He looked surprisingly good blood splattered. Ace take off his hat and runs his fingers through his graying hair, leaving streaks of rusty red blood through the curls before putting his hat back on.

"How are we gonna clean up?" Ace asks, tugging on his shirt, "I do like this shirt y'know?"

Ash squints a road sign, and quickly cuts three people off to take an exit.

"I know a guy, actually."

\----

Ash pulls up to a cabin in the woods, much better than the one he fucked around in thirty years ago. This one was well lived in and well maintained. He hoped the guy still lived here, and was up at three in the morning. After grabbing his duffle bag he trots up the porch and knocks on the door, smiling back at Ace reassuringly.

"Don't worry this is-"

"What do you want." A voice cuts through the dark. Ash turns to see a shotgun leveled at his face and smiles.

"Hey Jake! Mind if me and a buddy use your shower?"

Jake lowers his gun and glares at Ash, gas lantern lighting up the utter rage in his eyes at the sight of him.

"Fine. Make it quick." Jake snaps, opening the door and stepping back. Ash waves Ace in, making his way to the bathroom despite the darkness of the cabin.

"Place hasn't changed a bit!"

"If you're not gone in an hour I'm going to shoot you." Jake replies, shoving the lantern in Ace's hands before making his way to the spiral staircase in the corner and heading upstairs.

A few moments pass before Ace fixes him with a questioning look, "You uh...friends?"

Ash opens the door to the bathroom and takes the lantern from Ace to set on the toilet before unbuttoning his bloody shirt. He left his shotgun and chainsaw in the car.

"Kinda. Met him at a hunting thing I was at with my buddy Lem in Bellaire. We go way back. He loves me!"

Ace raises his eyebrows, as Ash unbutton his pants, "Alright, as long as he doesn't try and shoot me too." He says before leaving the bathroom.

"Not joining me?" Ash calls playfully after before starting the water. Jake was a psychotic woods person so the water was freezing at best, but he deals with it long enough to get the dried blood off of him. He changes into a more casual Hawaiian shirt and shorts before hefting his duffle bag on and exiting the bathroom.

"You're up!"

He can hear Ace yelp when he gets in a chuckles before shuffling off to the kitchen to dig through Jake's pantry. Mostly canned foods and crackers. He's sure there's probably some food frozen in the back but he doesn't bother to pick through. Instead he helps himself to sleeve of ritz crackers. Through his munching he does hear the revving of a motorcycle. Carefully he pulls the curtain back and peeks out. The headlamp of the bike cuts off, and under the full moon he can see a figure approach his car and peek in through the windows before doing the same to the trailer.

"Who the fuck is that." Jake asks, causing him to jump slightly. Guy was fucking quiet.

"Dunno..." Ash replies through a mouthful of crackers, "You got any beer?"

Jake glares at him, and he can hear the shower stop. He glances over to the hallway as the door opens and ace walks out in a blue sweater with flamingos on it. He can't help but smile at the sight. He had gone to the trouble of rinsing his hat off. When he turns back he sees Jake opening the front door and pointing his gun at the figure.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Jake yells. The figure immediately turns, and with surprising speed it runs off into the shadows.

"Was that the thing from the bar?" Ace asks, squinting at the shadows.

Y'know, it probably was that Deadite. It must have followed them all the way here to finish the job.

"Hey Jake you should get back inside." Ace says, walking up to Ash and taking a ritz cracker from the sleeve, "Those things are wild."

Jake turns to them with a frown, "What things?"

The engine from the motorcycle revves up, and the headlight comes on. Illuminating Jake from behind. The man starts to turn, raising his gun to shoot but the tires of the motorcycle connects with his face, knocking him to the ground and crushing his skull. The man's brains splatter all over his porch as the skin of his face gets imbedded in the treads. Ash winces at the sight of it, before looking up to the driver.

"Found you!" The Deadite sings at him, revving the engine again and quite literally pulling into the house and turning the bike towards him. Flesh and brains drip of the tire grotesquely.

"It never ends with you Deadites." Ash groans, dropping his duffel bag and quickly reaching for his shotgun.

Before he can grab it the gas lantern flies past his face and colloids with the Deadite. A flash of fire and a small explosion rocks the cabin. He looks up to see the Deadite sitting on the bike, now wreathed in flames but very much alive.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" Ash snaps.

"I thought it would kill him!" Ace replies, jumping out of the way of the shooting flames as the biker starts driving toward him. Ash waits until the last minute to press himself against the wall and the Deadite whizzes past him. Careening down the hall and crashing into the wall at the end.

"You mad it into fucking Ghost Rider!" Ash yells back, "Now it's going to-"

A larger explosion rocks the house, and Ash drops down. Covering his face as shards of metal and fire shoot past them from down the hallway. He looks up to see flames lapping at the logs, and the charred dismembered body of the Deadite sitting on what remains of the bike.

"Holy shit." Ace says softly.

"Well, at least we don't need another shower."

He gets to his feet and glances at the headless body on the ground. Poor guy, he really had to stop talking to people he knew. It was a one way ticket to getting your head crushed by a motorcycle territory. He carefully steps around the body on the way out and shakes his head sadly.

"Let's get out of here before more cops show up. I gotta make a phone call."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The body count rises. Im so tempted to put david in here with my crackpot headcanons about him being ashs son but i probably wont. 
> 
> Probsbly. 
> 
>  
> 
> Ash might kill freddy krueger In this tho
> 
> Maybe.


	3. Fly Me To The Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what the kids call a Character Building chapter. Ft. Pablo and kelly

Ash leans against the wall next to slushie machine, pointedly avoiding the gas station cashiers curious gaze. He looks at his notebook as he quickly types the number into the ancient handheld phone, putting it to his ear and listening to it ring.

"Hello?" A familiar voice answers.

"Hey, Pablo! It's Ash." He says, happy to hear his best friends voice after at least two weeks. Pablo and Kelly went to get the dagger and he went to get Ace and hide the book.

"Oh hey jefe! I was starting to get worried, you two should have been here two days ago!"

Ash glances out the window to see Ace talking to some guy at the other pump, leaning on his delta like he sexy bikini model but fully clothed. He didn't know how the guy was able to wear a sweater in this southern heat but it looked good on him.

"-So we can wait a while but-"

"Huh, did you say something?" Ash interrupts, too busy thinking about Ace to listen.

Pablo sighs and he hears a fuss on the line before a new, angrier voice takes over.

"Ash if you and that Italian shithead aren't down at this dock in a day or less, I'm going to personally beat your ass!" Kelly's voice yells from the speaker, dripping with rage.

"Ah well, you know how travel is with me. Few Deadites here and there really slow us down."

"It should have been a fifteen hour drive not three days, Ash!" Kelly snaps, he can hear her shooing Pablo away from the phone.

He rolls his eyes and starts perusing the shelves of doughnuts. The jelly filled one was looking really good right now.

"Look, we can't leave because Ace is the guy with the boat to get us to the Honduras where Pablo's family can do their voodoo. We are stuck here until you and your new boyfriend get to this dock!"

"Mmmhmm, will do. Hey I'll catch you later I think Ace just- hey wait he's not my boyfriend were business partners."

"Whatever. Just hurry up or this dagger is going up your asshole." Kelly snaps before quickly hanging up.

Ash huffs and returns to the cashier, passing the phone back with a quick thanks.  The bell at the entrance dings and Ace smiles at Ash, it makes his heart race every time.

"Hey Ashy how'd the call go? Pablo and Kelly aren't mad are they?" Ace asks, shuffling by the grab a box of doughnuts from the shelf and dropping them on the counter.

"No they said we can take all the time in the world." Ash lies, watching Ace make his purchase before heading back to the Delta.

They had crossed the border into Arkansas a few hours ago, catching a quick nap after burning Jake's cabin down. It was around midday and they haven't made much progress towards Louisiana. Not that he minded, more time for road trip fun.

"Where'd you get doughnut money?" Ash asks, helping himself to a jelly filled. He hated to admit how broke they were, but in his defense his trailer had never looked cleaner.

"Sold some cocaine to that guy at the other pump." Ace replies, solving the mystery of what was in the pink suitcase.

Ash nods, starting the car and pulling out of the station, "Cool."

He glances over at Ace to see him already looking at him, his face reflected back at him in his sunglasses. He turns back to the road with a slight smile.

"Kelly called you my boyfriend. First the Deadite now her." Ash snorts and shakes his head, leaning back and finishing off his doughnut, "You believe that?"

A few beats of silence passed before Ace lets out a small laugh, "Really? She said that?"

"I know! Ridiculous!" Ash says quickly, glancing over only to see the man staring out the passenger side window with a thoughtful expression.

"It's not a big deal if she does." Ace says, odd tone in his voice, "I don't mind."

Ash feels his palm sweating, and he shifts in his seat. Reaching over to grab another doughnut to hide his apprehension. He wasn't...gay. Well no he was, kinda. But after the cabin and Scotty he tried not to...deal with that sort of thing. Was...Ace gay? Oh man he really didn't want to offend him or anything so soon into their friendship. Especially not after all the murder and arson they've done together.

"I don't mind either, but we're in the south so..." He glances over as Ace makes an ah of understanding. He sees that small smile come back and relaxes. Crisis averted, "Can you grab me a beer?"

Ace sets the box of doughnuts on the dash and Ash listens to him dig around for the cooler in the back. Ash holds out his hand and a cold beer is set in it. He cracks it and chugs half the can in one long drink.

"So are you gay?" Ash asks as Ace cracks his own beer.

"Depends," Ace replies smooth as ever, "Why you askin'?"

He shrugs, struggling to read into Ace's tone. He really wasn't good at reading people like Ace, especially if they were flirting. Typically he assumed all women were flirting with him unless they threatened bodily harm, and even then he was sure that was a signal. Some would argue with him, but he knew damn well he wasn't stupid, just terrible at socialization. Maybe it was all the trauma from killing his friends and family thirty years ago that kept him from being a normal human. He takes another gulp of his beer, finishing the can off and tossing it in the back.

"Can't I get to know a guy?" Ash deflects.

"By asking if he's gay?" Ace shoots back instantly.

Oh fuck he totally offended him. Shit, god dammit. Normally he wouldn't care that much but he really, really liked Ace and didn't want to actually hurt his feelings. He knew his limits with Pablo and Kelly, but he hadn't quite gotten a feeling for Ace's personality yet.

"Doesn't hurt to ask instead of assume. Don't really care if you are." He says carefully. Ace gently pats his thigh, and Ash stiffens.

"I'm just playin' with ya." Ace says with an easy laugh, he adds something in Spanish that Ash doesn't understand and slowly drags his fingers down his thigh before pulling his hand away.

Ash is relieved to let the subject drop, not really worrying that Ace didn't give him a real answer. Instead he turns up the radio, blasting Highway Star to clear the tension in the air. Nothin' but him, his probably gay buisness partner, and the open road. Hell yeah.

\---

"Pass me the rice." Ace demands after exhaling a lungful of smoke into the air and setting the bong down on his trunk. Ash reaches over passes him the Chinese takeout box of rice, personally focusing on demolishing the second container of lo mein.

"Where do you get your weed?" Ace asks through a mouthful of rice, "It's really fucking good."

"Shits legal in Michigan. I just buy it at the depositories after getting my card." Ash replies, setting a few blueberries down for Eli who promptly eats them up. He then crawls across the bed to Ace and climbs onto his leg. It makes Ash smile.

"Man, what a country." Ace says, gently running a finger over Eli's scales, "It's legal in Argentina, but not grown like this."

"I thought you were Italian?"

"I am, my mom is Italian my dad's Argentinean. Born and raised there." Ace picks up the bong and holds it out, "¿Queries?"

Ash takes the bong from Ace and takes a hit, setting the thing aside and blowing smoke upwards. Alaskan Thunder Fuck always got him fucking demolished, worth every fucking cent.

"So why aren't you like...black."

"Argentina is in South America." Ace replies, setting aside the empty rice box. Amazing how fast two high adults can eat eighty dollars worth of Chinese food. Equally amazing how much rednecks will pay for cocaine.

"Is it really?" Ash asks, trying to visualize a world map, only for the image to drift away.

Ace snickers and runs his fingers through his hair, pushing a few strands that had stayed forward back into place. Ace had a chronic case of hat hair, the locks mostly laying flat and fluffing out at the ends. He thought it looked utterly endearing.

"Sorry didn't realize you were that stupid."

"Common mistake."

The radio crackles a bit and the annoying host comes on, talking about stuff that didn't matter. Unfortunately it was the only station that wasn't country, so they were stuck with it.

"So can you speak Italian too?" Ash asks curiously.

"Yeah, not as well as Spanish or English but I can get by if I need too since it's so similar to both. Been told my accent is terrible." Ace says with a chuckle, he proceeds to say something in what Ash assumes is Italian.

"That how you know Pablo?"

"Kinda. Used to run stuff from Argentina to the Honduras, happened to meet Pablo's uncle during the nineties. Unrelated to drugs, you racist fuck."

Ash rolls his eyes, the radio announcer mentions that it's one in the morning and he decides now is a good time to get some rest. He stands, scooping up Eli from Ace's and walking him over to his tank and setting him gently on his rock. He loved him so much. He turns around to see Ace turning the radio off.

"This place gets nothing good." Ace says, "I can play better music than this."

Ash perks up at that. He loved Pablo and Kelly dearly but they never had quite the same love of music as he did. Sure he was stuck in the 70s but he could at least appreciate good music! 

"Do you play any instruments?" Ash asks, trying to curb his enthusiasm.

"Yeah, the guitar mostly. And piano but I haven't-"

"Oh hold on!" Ash interrupts, moving past Ace and to his storage closet. He shoves a few boxes and guns out of the way before pulling out an old black case. He sets it on the bed and quickly unzips it, revealing the old yamaha keyboard he bought during a manic episode at least ten years ago. He was certain it still worked.

"I used to play a lot when I was younger! Ever since I lost my hand...well you know hard to play with one, but I still got it!" Ash says, pulling the keyboard out of the case and plugging it in. He sets it on his lap and flips it on before patting the space to his right.

Ace slowly sits next to him, their thighs brush and Ash scoots ever so slightly closer. Grabbing some sheet music from the case and setting it on the stand.

"You play the right parts and I'll play the left."

"I uh, haven't warmed up?"

"Don't matter." Ash says quickly, resting his hands on the cool keys. He waits until Ace does the same before doing a quick countdown.

He presses the key and a horn honks, Ace snorts and starts choking in laughter. Oh yeah he did set that to the horn noise as a joke. He quickly flips it back to piano and counts down a second time when Ace calms down.

This time the piano plays an imitation of what a regular one would sound. He strikes a few keys, noting how terrible and out of sync they are but not wanting to stop. As they work down the page the notes begin to sound better and better. Ace is a half beat behind him, but the tune of Fly Me To The Moon is undeniably discernable. Ace flips the page, and the melody continues. It had been a long time since Ash even tried to mess around with the piano, the last time he had ever played seriously was that night in the woods. Before his life fell to fucking pieces of course. Since then the only time he tickled the ivories was in a drunken depressive stupor. Ace leans his head on Ash's shoulder, and an old feeling runs through his body. He isn't sure how he feels about it. Ace reaches forward and turns the page again, and for the first time in three days he notices a ring on Ace's left ring finger. Oh, well guess that solved those emotions.

"You're...really good." Ace says softly, pulling his hand away from the keys. Ash plays a few more lines before stopping, letting silence fall.

"Thanks..."

Ash can't help but pry, "Are you married?"

He watches Ace raise his left hand and look at the plain silver ring on his finger.

"Don't worry Ashy, I'm still single." He brings his hand closer and Ash can see engravings of a heart, diamond, spade, and club in the silver, "Means I'm married to the cards."

Ash smiles, and gently takes Ace's hand. Its rough and calloused, much like his own, but warm and inviting. He runs his thumb over the engravings, "Pretty awful joke."

He feels Ace shrug, "You haven't seen me play cards yet."

"Guess not."

Silence falls over them and Ash absently runs his thumb over the back Ace's hand. Tracing a meaningless pattern on the other hand as his thoughts fade away. He was high, yes he would admit that, but he was starting to think he was starting to get too attached to the other man. He really didn't like thinking about these things, they stressed him out considering how many people he was fond of died tragically.

Ash releases Ace's hand, and sets the keyboard back onto the case, he zips it up and shoves it unceremoniously into the closet. He kicks his shoes off and crawls in bed, he sets a pillow in the middle of the bed and curls up facing the wall. A couple minutes pass before he feels Ace moving around the bed, laying down on the other side of the pillow. This was his boundary. He didn't care about Ace being touchy feely in the day, he kind of looked forward to it considering how little social interaction he had normally. But he didn't want to push his luck with the universe and get Ace killed because he was lonely. He had enough close calls with Pablo and Kelly. It was arm's length.

"Goodnight, Ash." Ace's voice cuts through the dark like a soft light.

"'Night, Ace." He replies, closing his eyes and trying to sleep. He hears a rustling behind him, and hopes it isn't Ace inching closer.

\---

He wakes up sometime around midday, which is pretty normal for him. Sleeping half the day away up all night at the bar. Ash cracks his eyes open to see Ace's sleeping face only a few feet away from him. He must have rolled over in his sleep, slowly inched closer and closer to the other but not really making content. His eyes drift from the man's peaceful face and messy bedhead to the outstretched hand, unconsciously reaching just over the pillow barrier with his ring flashing demure in the morning light. Ash wants to reach out too, but he can feel the phantom itch of his right hand, and instead he sits up. Quietly exiting the bed and putting some distance between them.

It was safer that way.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please watch ash vs evil dead it is the best fucking show


	4. Born To Be Wild

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The evil dead musical is a very fun and powerful musical and 100% believe all the songs are just ash singing his adventures to the other survivors at the campfire

"Kelly is going to kill you for this." Ace says, closing the door of the delta and shaking his head in disappointment.

Ash ignores him and makes his way towards the giant stone building. He really didn't give a shit how hard Kelly was going to kill him, he wanted to- no he needed to see this statue.

"Why aren't you more pumped? Don't Italians love Jesus and all. The pope lives there." Ash says, waiting impatiently for Ace to catch up before continuing towards Jesus.

"Wasn't exactly raised hyper religious. Superstitious yes, but not religious." Ace replies, falling into step beside Ash reluctantly, "Why do you care?"

Ash gestures ahead of them, trying to convey his excitement, "Big Jesus!"

He watches Ace's stoic expression waver into a small smile, and he pats the man's shoulder. Driving five hours in the opposite direction may seem like a huge waste of time, but in reality it is the catalyst an important bonding moment that needed to happen. That's what he's been telling himself at least.

"How big is this Jesus anyway?" Ace asks.

"I dunno. Like...sixty feet?"

Ace lets out an impressed whistle, "That is big."

"Hey don't they have a big ass Jesus statue where you're from?" Ash asks, glancing over at Ace's ever impassive sunglasses.

"Christ the Redeemer is in Brazil, not Argentina." Ace replies flatly.

"But like...same area right?"

"Not at all, but sure Gringo."

Ash smiles, another meaningful connection made. He really did fail geography back in school, it was good to know he hasn't changed at all since then. He makes a mental note to look at a map and figure out just where Argentina really was. He squints ahead and wonders just how far away this statue was from where they parked. Sure it was big but they had been walking for a while. He had seen it when they drove up,  glimpse of the ever elusive Jesus.

"Do you wanna watch the Passion of The Christ play while we're here?" Ash offers, remembering that it was mentioned on the pamphlet.

"I would love nothing more than to watch the Passion of The Christ play with you." Ace deadpans back.

"Ace, weird thing here. I get the feeling you'd rather die than see that play with me."

He watches Ace turn to him and lower his sunglasses ever so slightly to get his point across, "How did you guess?"

"Intuition." Ash replies, gently nudging Ace's shoulder, "We'll be outta here soon just indulge me with big Jesus."

Ace waves a hand dismissively, and they finally round the corner to Jesus. Ash lets out an impressed whistle. The thing sure what big. Jesus towered over them with blank dead eyes, his arms outspread in a stiff pose like the cross. This was absolutely worth five hours to see. He wished he could take a picture of it just to annoy Kelly. They walk closer, and yeah it really is big. A real modern marvel.

"Wanna hit the gift shop?"

Ace lets out a deep sigh, but nods anyway.

\---

"Y'all need help with anything?" The cashier asks, not quite giving him a suspicious look but getting there.

"Nope, all good here!" Ash replies, waving her away as he snickers over a CD of religious hymns. Almost made him want a CD player in his car. He looks around, realizing that Ace had wandered off to the bathroom while he was preoccupied.

"Enjoy your visit?" The woman pries again, she was lucky she was so cute or he would've told her to fuck off.

"Oh yeah, it was fun." He replies absently, glancing over to the lady and reading her name tag, "Why you askin' Kate?"

She shrugs, leaning against the counter and glancing around for her supervisor, "I'll be honest honey, I'm only here for a week and I don't get the big fuss over a statue and play."

Ash snorts, "Yeah, I thought seeing the thing would be funny, but it was just a big statue."

He picks up a hat with the big Jesus stitched in it with the words The Great Passion Play on it. Oh this was good.

"How much is this?" He asks, holding up the cap.

"Fourteen twenty-five." She replies before a loud crash sounds in the back, "Hold on, I gotta check that out."

Fuck, he only had about three dollars in change on him. Maybe he could get that hat for free by finger blasting the girl. He looks up to see the room to the back open and darkness inside. He sets the hat down and walks around the counter, no one else was in this shit shack to tell him not to. He pushes the door open and steps inside, squinting in the unnatural darkness.

"Hey, Kate? I got an offer for you uh, darling?" He says, trying to remember what southerners say

This was a surprisingly big backroom for such a small gift shop. Stacks and stacks of boxes were piled up making the room both smaller and bigger. He edges around a stack of boxes, catching sight of the ones that had fallen. Bibles were scattered everywhere and Kate was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, not knocking your customer service, but I do need some-" Ash cuts off when a bibles flies from the darkness and almost nails him in the head, "Fuck, where is your manager?"

He hears footsteps shuffling around, and the boxes behind him fall. Not trapping him but they do cause the door to close, plunging him into darkness with Kate. Maybe she had read his mind and was getting ready for the lay of a lifetime. He hears a giggle from the corner, and starts making his way to the door.

"Where's the light in here?" He asks, reaching out and brushing against a cold shoulder, "Oh, uh sorry?"

The light flips on, and he blinks quickly at the sudden brightness blinding him. He rubs his eyes and looks down at the grotesque malformed face of the once solid ten Kate and her dead glassy eyes. God dammit.

"Look who's evil now!" It says with a giggle before lunging at him.

Claws dig into his skin at the Deadite grabs his shirt and yank him around. The air exits his lungs as he's thrown against the door. He hears the wood creak menacingly and he reaches for the doorknob as the Deadite raises its foot and kicks him in the chest. The door gives out and he flies back. Smashing his head against the checkout counter. Stars flash against his eyes and he groans, sliding onto his knees and rubbing his temples. The Deadites cowboy boots slam down near his face, and its nails scrap his scalp as it grabs his hair and yanks his head up.

"Hope you said your prayers, Ashy Slashy."

Man, he really hated that fucking nickname. He reaches out, gripping a hunk of wood in his hand stabbing it into the Deadites suppl thigh. Blood sprayed into his eyes and thankfully the Deadite lets go of his hair. He shoves her away and jumps to his feet, wiping blood out of his eyes and jumping over the checkout desk. He really wish he brought his boomstick, damn Jesus and his no gun policy. Instead he scans the area for an overpriced souvenir to beat her with that wasn't Jesus or a cross. It was proving surprisingly difficult. 

"My old girlfriend used to be a cashier, y'know?" Ash says, grabbing a snowglobe and breaking it over the counter to create an effective cross based shank.

The Deadite lifts the cash register and throws it at him, he barely manages to duck out of the way as the machine hits the back wall and opens.

"Ooh are you gonna cut my head off too Ashy? Wanna skull fuck me baby?" The deadite coos, jumping onto the checkout counter. Blood spurts from her leg and drips down the makeshift wooden stake.

"Not into that." Ash says and shoves the glass knick knack into her stomach, twisting violently and ripping her guts out.

She starts cackling, and jumps on him. Knocking him to the floor and shoving her crotch into his face. Which would have been great had she not been a Kandarian demon spraying blood on his face. He already got his redwings years ago. Ash drops the snowglobe and shoves his robotic hand into her guts, causing more to spill out but also getting her off his face and onto the floor. He backs away, throwing a rope of large guts off of him as he gets to his feet. Running to cash register, closing it and lifting it with a grunt. He can feel his back strain and hopes to god he doesn't throw it out as he lugs the cash register over to the Deadite.

"Y'all don't come back now." Ash growls mockingly through gritted teeth and drops the register on the Deadites head. Causing it to explode in a spray of blood, brain, and bones. He watches her twitch a few times before relaxing. Thank god.

He looks around the shop, happy to see he was still the only one here. He wipes the blood off his pants and grabs a hat on the way to the door. The bell jingles as he steps out, bumping into a thankfully familiar face. Ace looks him up and down, eyebrows raising over his sunglasses.

"Have fun in there?"

"Oh yeah." Ash replies, quickly moving away from the scene of the crime before anyone notices a blood covered man with brains on his boots, "Got you somethin."

He holds the hat out to Ace, noticing a few blood splatters on it and wishing he got a different one. Ace takes one look at it and snorts, immediately taking his worn hat off and replacing it with the Jesus adorned one.

"How's it look?"

Ash grins, "Perfect."

\---

"Get your motor running," Ash yells before shotgunning a beer and tossing the can out the window, "Head out on the highway!"

"Speed trap up ahead." Ace says.

Ash starts slowing down, Ace always had a knack for knowing when traffic stops and shit like that. And he really didn't want to get pulled over so close to getting out of Arkansas. He glances over to see Ace still messing around with the Rubik's cube he found in the trailer at their last rest stop. He was no closer to finishing it than before.

"Hey pass it over." Ash says, holding out his robotic hand. Ace sets the cube in his hand and Ash starts driving with his knees.

He looks over the cube for a few moments, taking an inventory of the state Ace left the cube in. Ash starts twisting the sections, matching up the colors before tossing it back to Ace and retaking the wheel. He passes the speed trap, waiting for a mile before pressing on the gas.

"How the fuck did you do that?" Ace finally says. Ash looks over to see him staring at the cube.

"Well y'know you do the white cross method and figure it out." Ash replies with a hand wave. He glances over to see Ace mixing the Rubik's cube up and trying to solve it again.

He stays silent, glancing over at Ace every now and then to monitor his progress. Ace was getting nowhere fast, despite his efforts. Silently, Ash holds out his hand again. Ace huffs and sets the cube in his hand. He examines the cube briefly, resting his wrists on the wheel to steer as he twists the sections until the colors match up and passes it back to Ace.

"What the fuck?" Is all Ace says.

"What?" Ash deflects.

"No how the hell are you doing that? Is this a trick thing?"

Ash snorts, glancing over to see Ace already messing around with the cube again in frustration.

"No, its from the Value Stop up north. Nothin' special about it."

"How are you solving it? You're stupid."

Ash frowns, that one actually hurt him a bit. He's not that stupid is he? He's just...easily manipulated by a lot of people.

"It's not too hard, things like that are easy to get y'know? Like cars and chemistry and shit. Once you get it, you get it."

"Huh."

He looks over to see Ace staring at the cube, spinning it slowly and examining the colored squares. He can see the exact way to solve the cube, and Ace starts making all the wrong moves. Ash smiles, and looks back to the street. He figures he should give him some tips.

"The center piece can't move. Try to match the edges and corners to that one."

Ace lets out a thoughtful grunt, reinvigorating his efforts to solve the cube. He turns the radio up a bit and enjoys the breeze from the window. It was getting hotter and humid the further south they go. Reminds him of his time at Jacksonville, he needed to go back. Thankfully he had already changed into his shorts after the mess Ozark's, ready to party.

'Welcome to Louisiana' a sign says as they pass under. He reaches under his seat and grabs a bundle of cloth, unwrapping it to reveal the Necronomicon. He taps the cover a few times.

"Pablo, you there?" He calls, glancing down to see the eyes turn red, "Hey we just crossed into Louisiana. Probably gonna spend the night by this big Crawfish in Alexandria and a giant paperclip in New Orleans that Ace needs to see."

"Don't pin that shit on me." Ace pipes up.

"Whatever. Will be there around dusk tomorrow." He finishes, listening to Pablo's muffled gibberish, "Anyway see you then! Ace says hi."

With that he wraps up the Necronomicon and shoves it back under the car seat. He looks over to see Ace tossing the cube in the back in annoyance. He smiles at Ash, obviously pretending he didn't throw a temper tantrum over a toy.

"There really a giant crawfish?"

"You think I'd lie about that?"

"Do we have to see the paperclip?" Ace asks after considering his question.

"Yes."

\---

"Swamp Daddy's is the worst name I have ever heard for a restaurant."

Ash rolls his eyes and digs into another crawfish. These were real fucking good he had to admit, and he wasn't a big fan of seafood.

"And the Crawfish isn't even that big."

He looks over at the not sixty foot crawfish statue and shrugs, "Still pretty big."

He hears Ace sigh, and close the door to the trailer. Signaling that he was in a real pissy mood. Ash rolls his eyes and sets the to go box in the Delta before pulling out in search of a place to stay overnight. Thankfully he finds one in an abandon Target parking lot and sits in the front seat. Ace had been acting a little weird. He couldn't tell if he had said something during dinner or not but the guy had suddenly gone quiet and moody. Did he not like crawfish? Ash gets out of the car, locking the doors before entering the trailer. He shoves the takeout box in the mini fridge and looks over at Ace. The man had turned on the radio, playing a fuzzy station in Spanish.

"Ace?"

"¿Que?" The man replies absently. Ash slowly walks over and sits next to Ace who was laying on the bed. The man had taken off his hat and sunglasses, his eyes are closed and hands folded on his chest. Fingers slowly tracing his ring.

"You okay? Do you need a bump or something?"

Ace shakes his head, not opening his eyes, "No, no. I don't want any right now."

Fuck, he really wasn't doing well. Ash looks away and bites his lip, "Crawfish, uh, not going with you well?"

Ace shakes his head, and Ash holds back a sigh. He hates doing heart to hearts, but he really should try since Ace is a good guy.

"Alright, keep it real with me buddy. What's bugging you? No judgment." He says, looking down at Ace's impassive face. He detects a slight twitch in his eyebrows.

Fuzzy Spanish music fills the silence, and he waits patiently for Ace to speak.

"I'm not married, almost was." Ace finally says, clearing his throat slightly, "She really liked seafood and it...reminds me of her and the- the kids."

Ash stares at Ace in shock. He realizes he doesn't know a goddamn thing about the man in front of him. He never claimed to get Ace in the first place, but he assumed the guy was more like him than not. A lone wolf, not held down with kids.

"Sorry, sorry," Ace says suddenly and sits up, "Shouldn't be acting like this but you...kinda remind me of her."

He tilts his head, trying to come up with something to say after such a huge emotional confession, "Do I?"

"She loved dumb shit like you."

"Stop insulting big Jesus and big Crawfish!" Ash says defensively.

Ace doesn't respond, instead he gets to his feet and walks over to the radio and turning it up. A stereotypical Spanish sounding guitar starts playing with violins. He watches Ace walk over and hold his right hand out. Ash looks at the hand, then up to Ace's face, raising his eyebrows.

"Can I have this dance?" Ace asks as a woman starts singing.

Ash takes the man's hand with his flesh one, and Ace pulls him up. He allows Ace to take the lead position and before he can think to hear the man starts dancing him around the small space of his trailer. He looks down at Ace, who was staring past his shoulder with a far off look in his eyes. He can hear him humming the song under his breath as they dance. He almost wishes he could understand it.

"What's this song called?"

"Me muero por estar contigo." Ace replies softly, voice far away. He sounded really nice speaking Spanish. He wondered if it was his first language like Pablo.

"What's she saying?"

Ace's eyes trail up to his, and he smirks at him, "I can't translate easily."

Ash rolls his eyes and let's silence fall. He can't help but think back to the night in the cabin with Linda. He didn't dance with her though. In fact this was the second time he had ever danced with another man. His thoughts drift past the cabin to a few weeks before, right to Scotty. His hand tightens around Ace's and he tries to ignore the flood of memories. It was so long ago, but his life had run to a fucking halt since then so it was hard to ignore the good times.

He stops dancing, it takes Ace a moment to stop as well. Ash looks down at Ace's curious face. He pulls away, trying to play off his sudden aversion to this intimacy with an awkward smile. These memories shouldn't be so painful, but when they come up they hurt just the same as before.

"Sorry, I'm not a dancer."

Ace nods, stepping away to give him some space. He appreciates the gesture more than anything.

"No worries, I ain't either."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some ace backstory ft. Scotty whomst i love so much


	5. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is long. Also kelly and pablo get here!

Ash returns to consciousness with a groan. It was fucking hot in the trailer, so hot he was ripped out of a very peaceful dream involving Jacksonville. He rolls over, wondering if he could force himself back to sleep as he buries his face into what should be his pillow. His pillow breaths and wraps an arm around him. Weird but he actually kinda liked it, never been the little spoon with a girl before. Wait shit, he hadn't picked up a floozy in at least a week because of Ace. He opens his eyes completely and Ace's shoulder comes into view and he looks up to see the man's peaceful face. Still asleep, huh? He had tried so hard with the pillow, but he couldn't really blame Ace. The guy seemed like a cuddler, surprised he avoided it for so long. Cutting his losses Ash shuffles forward and buries his face in Ace's chest. This was nice.

He feels Ace shift under him and a hand starts running through his hair. Shit, that was really nice too. No wonder girls liked this, it was relaxing. He relaxes into Ace's arms despite the Louisiana heat making him wish for an ice bath, and enjoys the contact. It's not like he had never cuddled anyone before, but he always was the big spoon and not the little spoon. It was different, felt more intimate somehow. Anything with Ace was always slightly different and slightly familiar. The other man often reminded him of how he remembered Scotty. Smart, headstrong, kind of an asshole but a heart of gold. Of course Scotty died when he was barely an adult so who knows the kind of person he would've grown into. Probably not a sad sack of shit like him. He feels his mood drop, and decides it's time to get to Port Fourchon.

Carefully he extracts himself from Ace's arms, sliding of the bed and making his way to his closet. He pulls on his Hawaiian shirt along with his khakis, preparing for a long boat ride. He turns to see Ace sitting up on the bed, fuck he was totally awake for the unexpected cuddle sesh. Ash grins to cover up his unexpected embarrassment.

"Mornin' sleepin beauty." Ace lets out a yawn, and Ash turns away to grab his duffel bag, "Skipping the giant paperclip this go round, Kelly might actually attempt to kill me if we take much longer."

Ace chuckles at that, "Mornin' Ashy. That's fine with me, I do wanna see Pablo."

He checks to make sure his chainsaw is full of gas and grabs a few boxes of shells to dump in his bag before feeding Eli. He was going to meet the two at a hotel a few miles away from the port to avoid the hell of driving through a Louisiana swamp with a trailer. He should give them another call.

"I called them last night by the way. Said I'd talk you out of a paperclip and meet them at the port by three."

Ash looks at his watch, noting that it was already eleven and glares at Ace, "You little shit."

Ace gives him finger guns and laughs, strolling out of the trailer with his pink suitcase in tow. He follows Ace out, tossing the duffle bag in the back and unlocking the Delta. He was going to be a total shithead and take the long way there just to be late.

"Hope you know i'm going to have to drive this trailer through a swamp."

"I'll get us a car."

"Legally?" Ash asks as his engine fires up.

"Oh fuck no."

\-----

Ash pulls into the hotel at four on the dot, making him at least an hour late. Almost immediately Ace hops out of the car and looks around the lot, sunglasses obscuring most of his face but he was obviously looking for something. Probably an easy target.

"I'm going to walk over to that gas station and get some beer for our trip." He says, deciding to not get involved in grand theft auto.

"Hmm, oh yeah I'll actually meet you over there." Ace says absently before walking vaguely off and around the hotel.

Ash shrugs, shouldering his duffel bag of guns and chainsaws before waking across the street to the shitty mom and pop gas station. He muses over if he should splurge on alcohol or not, they would probably go through a good amount of it so should he get quantity over quality? How long would it take again? A week right? His hand hovers over the decent beer thoughtfully as a gunshot rings out. He looks around, hoping that wasn't at him, only to see the owners if the gas station booking it out of the back of the store. Weird. The bell to the front rings and Ace slams the door behind him as a figure starts beating on the door. He now notices that the other was soaked in blood.

"Uh, you ok there?" Ash asks, squinting at the man beating the door to confirm it was indeed a Deadite.

"Yeah, evil works fast. Little help?" Ace replies, grinning as if he didn't look like he gutted a bear two minutes ago. Ash drops his duffle bag down, quickly swapping out his hand for his chainsaw.

"Open the door on three." Ash says, revving the chainsaw and feeling the familiar vibration up his arm. He presses himself next to the door and prepares to swing.

"One...two...THREE!"

Ace jumps forward, ducking down to avoid the saw as the door swings open. The Deadite is a lot taller than he expected, instead of cleaving the things head off the chainsaw rips into irs chest, flinging blood and flesh everywhere as it stumbles back. Ash follows it outside, not really wanting to do this in the middle of the street but also not wanting to get blood all over the store he was definitely going to steal from now.

"You can't get rid of us this easily, Ashy. Evil will always find you, with or without the book." The Deadite growls, slowly circling him.

"Who's sending you? Is it Ruby again? She died in the past killing herself y'know." Aah whines. He was sick of all these demons pestering him for being born the chosen one.

"You." The Deadite responds, white eyes almost glowing as blood drips down its black skin, "You are-"

The left side of the deadite head is obliterated by two quick shots from Ace. The other man rushes forward, grabbing Ash's arm by his elbow and dragging him forward to shove his chainsaw into the Deadites throat, severing the tendons and decapitating him in a spray of blood. This snaps him out of his stupor, and he turns the saw off.

"Well I uh...got a car?" Ace says, looking down at the body of the man, "Sorry him and his...I dunno daughter? came out and saw me hotwiring their ride and then they went...deadite."

"It happens. Hey bring the car around for me."

Ace nods, crouching down to check the bodies pockets for his keys. While doing so Ace flips open the guys wallet curiously.

"Adam Francis..." He hears Ace mutter as he returns to the store.

Detaching his saw and putting on his hand he shoulders his duffle bag before dumping a few bottles of twenty dollar wine in it. He grabs two twenty four packs and leaves the store just as Ace pulls up in a nice looking Cadillac that already had his pink suitcase in the back. Ash drops his bag in the back along with the twenty four packs before getting in the front. Ace pulls out quickly, as Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun plays softly on the radio. Now in the passenger seat Ash digs through the middle consol until he manages to find a few napkins, which he uses to clean his face up. He also happens to find a mini Rubik's cube which he solves easily, causing Ace to let out an annoyed huff.

Now minimally cleaner, Ash leans back and thinks about what the Deadite said. Not a really good idea, since they do nothing but talk garbage. But what did that wise black Deadite mean by that one word? Was it answering his question or something? He sure hoped not, he hated killing innocent people despite how often he had to do it. It's really not his fault either, demons had it out for him and they didn't give a fuck about collateral. Man, if only Ace waited a few seconds before blowing him away. It reminded him of what one of his evil clones said, that without the Necromnomicon he was a nobody. With it he could play hero as the chosen one.

"Stop that."

"What?" Ash looks over at Ace, blood drips off the legs of his sunglasses and his once white Passion Play hat was now stained a gruesome red.

"Stop thinking. That sorta thing does people like you no good."

"People like me? Are you profiling?"

The man snorts and shakes his head, turning to give him a trademark smirk. Blood stained the grey hairs of his beard bright red.

"Yes, I'm profiling you as an impulsive moron. Dwelling on shit does your type no good."

Ash rolls his eyes, surprisingly content to watch Ace drive, "Shoot first, think never."

He watches a real smile play on Ace's lips as he chuckles at the joke. It brings him so much joy he has to look away, and try not to think about it. He can only stare out the window for a few minutes before his attention shifts back to Ace. The blood was drying fast, would be hell to get off later. He digs around in the back of the car, eventually finding a bag with a bunch of papers that looked like worksheets.

"Here," Ash says, holding the papers out to Ace, "For your face."

"Aww, the bloody look not doin' it for ya?"

"Make no mistake lucky strike, it looks great on you. But it won't be fun to wash of later."

Ace takes the papers and wipes off his face as well as he can. He even manages to to clean his sunglasses without crashing, and thirty minutes later they pull up to the Port Fourchon dock. Better late than never he thinks as he grabs his duffle bag and Ace takes his suitcase.

"What dock are we at?" Ash asks, scanning the boats floating demure in the water.

"Uhh, seven I believe." Ace replies, leading Ash down the dock towards a cute sailboat.

He sees two familiar figures sitting on the deck and he can't help but smile, raising a hand in greeting. The figures perk up, and he watches Pablo jump off the boat and jog towards them.

"Tío Ace!" Pablo calls, running up to Ace and...hugging him? He watches Ace grin and pull Pablo close. The two start talking in Spanish enthusiastically as Kelly walks up.

"You made us wait a week for you fucker." Kelly says, playfully punching his arm really hard, "Fuck you."

"Missed you too, Kelly."

She rolls her eyes, taking the Kandarian dagger from hee belt and passing it to him. He shoves it in the duffle bag next to the wine.

"This him?" She asks, gesturing to Ace who was trying to wipe blood off Pablo's face.

"Sure is."

"Looks like a tool."

"He is."

With that, Ace pulls away from Pablo and smiles at Kelly, holding his hand out for a shake which Kelly returns unenthusiastically.

"Hey beautiful, I'm Ace."

"Save it, buddy." Kelly replies. Ash snorts, trying to to feel happy Ace was shut down so hard.

"Boats ready, all the supplies are there. You two better fuck off fast."

Ace's face falls, and he looks at Pablo, "You two ain't coming."

Pablo shakes his head, shrugging apologetically, "Sorry tío Ace. Only enough room for you and jefe really. Plus it'll be faster."

He watches Ace sigh, and feels a pang of worry. The guy was probably sick of him and looking forward to hanging out with a girl and his...nephew? He should ask about that.

"Are you two...related?" Ash asks, watching the two exchange looks before Pablo respondes.

"No, not really. Ace is a family friend and his kids were my age so when he visited we played together."

Ash nods, eyes quickly drifting to Ace to see his reaction. His ever present smirk slips away for a split second as he turns away and grabs his suitcase. Walking quickly to the boat and jumping on, ignoring the trios stares.

"Uhh..." Pablo says.

"Shit man, he not like his kids or what?" Kelly asks with a snort.

"What? No he loves Heart and Clubs. Almost never shuts up about them."

"With names like that I'd believe otherwise."

Ash shifts his bag onto his other shoulder, "Coulda fooled me too. Didn't know he had kids till last night. Said he wasn't married."

Pablo waves his hand dismissively, "Oh he says that all the time, Jefe. He has this terrible joke where he calls his twins Heart and Clubs and his fiance Diamond. So he can say he's married to the cards, y'know?"

"Fuck thats terrible. No wonder you two took so long, he's perfect for you!" Kelly jokes before letting out a sigh, "Well me and Pablo are heading back up north to watch your shop. Call us when you can ok?"

"Yeah sure. Be safe." Ash replies absently, waving a quick goodbye and heading to the boat. He hated to pry, but there were a lot of questions burning in his mind about Ace and his very obvious discomfort at the mere mention of family.

He jumps into the boat. It was a pretty decent sized ship, a small cabin and good deck space. It should take about a week to get to the Honduras with good wind. Ash peeks into the cabin just as Ace finished changing into less bloody clothing. He sets his duffle bag down on one of the seats and starts changing as well. If they ran into any coastguard he sure as shit didn't want to be covered in blood while doing so.

"This boat yours?" Ash asks, buttoning up a fresh shirt.

"Technically." Ace replies before leaving the cabin.

Ash shrugs, deciding to leave Ace some space and instead explore below deck. It was packed full of food, first aid kits and beer. God he loved Pablo so much. Other than a small bathroom and shower the lower deck had a queen size bed tucked near the bow of the ship. Nice, even closer quarters. Without much else to do he returns to the upper deck and gets to work helping Ace get the ship unbound.

"Hey Ashy," Ace greets, looking a lot better than before, "Looks like some rains brewing."

Ash looks up at the mostly cloudless sky, a gentle breeze blows as if to emphasize how nice of a day it was.

"Really now?"

"Bet my life on it."

\---

Four hours later Ash closes and locks the door of the cabin, water dripping off of every inch of his body. Ace smiles up at him from the table, tuning the radio to a weather channel that was currently broadcasting the sudden downpour.

"How the fuck do you do this shit." Ash says, sitting heavily on the seat across from Ace with a sigh.

"I'm a lucky guy, maybe some of it will rub off on you." Ace replies with a smirk. He was shuffling his worn deck of cards, "Got a towel for you."

Ash takes the towel from the table and does his best to dry off. He had been gracious enough to check the sails, ensuring they were on the right course during the worst of the rain. Thankfully it wasn't a full fledged storm, that would be just his fucking luck.

"Pick a card." Ace offers, holding the deck out to him, "Don't show me."

Ash rolls his eyes and reaches out, running his damp fingers over the cards before selecting one. He looks at the Joker grinning up at him. He looks up at Ace, watching him shuffle the deck before spreading the cards again.

"Put it back once you've memorized it."

Wordlessly he slides the card back into place near the middle.

"Alright watch carefully." Ace says before starting to shuffle the deck in his quick fingers. It's actually kind of entertaining to watch. Eventually he stops and pulls out a card, holding the Ace of Spades up.

"That's not-"

Before he can finish Ace reveals the Joker he had hiding behind the ace, his face the same passive smirk it always was.

"Is this your card?"

"Fuck you."

Ace laughs and returns the cards to the deck, shuffling them away into the depths of the suits.

"I know a card trick to actually." Ash says, holding his hand out expectantly.

"Is it fifty-two pick up?" Ace shoots, greedily hogging his deck.

"Maybe." Ash replies, reaching across the table for the cards, but his fingers are deftly dodged by Ace.

"Fuck you, I'm not playing."

"Pussy." Ash relents, instead reaching into his duffel bag to pull out two bottles of wine.

"Ooh, classy." Ace teases as Ash passes him a bottle, "Gas station white wine? Ash are you trying to seduce me?"

Ash pops the cork on his using the corkscrew on his utility hand before kindly opening Ace's bottle.

"Me? Noooo." He teases, clinking the neck of the bottle with Ace's before taking a gulp. It sure is alcohol, and that all he needs for now. It was gonna be a long week.

"Ever heard of Cartomancy?" Ace asks after a few minutes of silence. Rain falls heavily on the roof above them, and the ship rocks on the waves.

"Can't say I have." Ash replies, looking over to see Ace nearly halfway through his bottle, "It a card game?"

"Nah, it's like tarot card reading but with playin' cards."

He never had his fortune read, or maybe he did by some stoned hippy chick but he can't remember if it was accurate. He knew for a fact he hasn't had it read with a deck of playing cards.

"My future is already read, Ace. It's in the book." He reminds him. When Ace's face falls he immediately relents, "But fuck it. Maybe you'll give me something good."

Ace's face lights up, and he tucks his wine bottle in between him and the wall. Ash sets his own bottle aside and hopes for the best.

"Here, you shuffle the deck." Ace says, sliding the cards over to Ash, "If any cards fall out don't put them back, and think about what you wanna learn from this."

Ash shrugs, and carefully starts shuffling the cards. It's difficult with his robotic hand, but he manages to not drop any cards despite Ace's scrutiny.

"Now what?"

"Cut the cards into piles. As many and as large as you want."

Ash shrugs, cutting the deck into three small piles, setting them on the table in the middle. He sits back and raises his eyebrows at Ace.

"Ok?"

"Pick three cards from any pile, set them face down. The first will be your past, the second the present, the third the future."

He looks at the piles of cards, deciding to make it easy on himself he takes the cards from the top of each pile, setting them in a simple row. Ace leans forward then, flipping the first card to reveal a two of spades.

"That good?" Ash can't help but ask.

"Spades usually means struggles in your life. The two of spades specifically means some sort of struggle with friends or loved ones in the past." Ace replies, face impassive as he no doubt scrutinized Ash.

That was fucking creepy. Ash takes a drink from his bottle and shrugs. Ace takes the queue and flips the middle card, revealing an ace of hearts. God this shit was a fucking joke.

"Let me guess, love?" Ash deadpans. He watches Ace raise his hands apologetically and lean back.

"Well not technically. It's more like a new beginning, don't have to be love." Ace says, pointedly glancing away, "Unless you want it to be, of course."

He doesn't respond, and Ace flips the last card to reveal the Joker.

"Huh."

"What, that bad?"

"No, just odd. Can mean a lot of things, especially as the future card." Ace says thoughtfully, staring the spread for a moment before giving him a reassuring smile, "Gotta say though your future looks pretty good."

He was never a superstitious person, never really believed in this prophet fortune stuff despite all the evidence in the Necronomicon. But somehow Ace saying it was gonna be okay made him feel a lot better about getting rid of the Necronomicon.

"Know how to play two handed euchre?" Ash asks, deciding to move away from this subject as fast as he could.

"Hell yeah I do."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did so much research of cartomancy for that scene. 
> 
> Also feng min was killed off screen by ace press f for her and adam


	6. Can't Fight This Feelin'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry ive been busy! By busy i mean playing minecraft, shaving my head, and dressing as michael myers. 
> 
> Yknow. Busy.
> 
> Also theres some dark implications this chapter

 

Ash opens another bottle of beer, tossing the cap at Ace, who deftly dodges it.

"Ashy you better cut that shit out." Ace warns, looking back down at the map before steering the wheel and redirecting the boat slightly westward.

He laughs and takes a drink of his fifth beer, leaning back in the shitty lawn chair and staring out into the waves. This trip sucked shit. It was fun, almost novel for the first day and a half. Now he was just fucking bored. All there was out here was water, endless fucking water. He did have more room to walk than a car, so he was able to get a little privacy. As much as he enjoyed Ace he really did need some alone time every now and then. The radio cranks out a few more fuzzy Spanish lines and he sighs.

"We there yet?" He calls to Ace over the wind whipping the sails.

"Still about four days out!" Ace calls back, nonplussed by the constant expanse of boring ocean. Ash groans, and sulks in his chair.

"You bored?"

"Yeah."

"Wanna play-"

"You always win." Ash interrupts. The guy wasn't lying when he said he was good at cards. He was pretty sure the guy was cheating in half their games. Although he was better at euchre than him.

"Fair enough." Ace says, moving away from the wheel to sit in the shitty lawn chair next to Ash, "I know this shits boring."

"You do this a lot?" Ash asks curiously, happy to learn more about Ace.

"Yeah, pretty easy way to run shit too and from the South to the North when you know the routes the coast Guard takes."

Ash hums in interest, watching Ace crack a beer and lean back. The sunset on the water casts shimmering lights on his sunglasses.

"Are you a pirate?"

Ace lets out a cute snort and shakes his head, "No, but they are some further south. Real bad news."

"Wait are you serious?"

"Yeah, guys in speedboats with automatic. Scary shit to see. Never been caught by then but I know a few guys who have."

He looks back to waves and sips his beer. If Ace talked about himself more he would no doubt have some wild stories to tell. From the small tidbits he had coaxed out of him the guy was a real lucky son of a bitch.

"What the fuck were you doing in Iwoa?" Ash asks, flashing back to what feels like forever ago.

"Ash, this might come as a shock to you but I am from Argentina. I don't know what the fuck Iowa is." Ace deadpans back.

"Meskwaki Casino. We meet up?"

"Oooh, yeah, yeah. I was up in Canada when Pablo called and that was the halfway point."

"Fuck were you doing in Canada?"

Ace lowers his sunglasses slightly and winks, "It's a secret."

God Ace was so good at playing coy, telling him just enough but not giving away everything. It really nade Ash question all the shit he had buried in his emotional pit at least thirty five years ago. If he was going to do that he needed to be much drunker. He finishes his beer, setting the bottle in the crate with the rest of the empties. It was about time to bust out the Wild Turkey. He pulls the full bottle from the bottom of the cooler and pops it open.

"You really getting drunk on me?" Ace pipes up. Ash looks over to see him slipping his sunglasses into the shirt pocket of his particularly ugly leopard button up.

"What, you wanna get wasted too?" Ash says teasingly, swishing the bottle at Ace. He watches the man deliberate for a second before grinning.

"Fuck it."

Ash grins and takes a long swig. Wincing at the familiar burn as the stronger alcohol makes him feel nice and light. He holds the bottle out to Ace, who takes a deep drink before passing it back. He had built up a strong alcohol tolerance over his years, but this stuff still got him decently buzzed.

"You wanna do some coke?" Ace offers.

"Fuck yeah I do."

Ace gets to his feet immediately, vanishing into the cabin for his stash. Ash sips the whiskey as he waits, watching the horizon turn a brilliant red and fade into deep purple and black. It made him think of Jacksonville, and lake Huron but mostly Jacksonville. After this deadite business was through he should take Ace there, have a nice party on the beach. No demons, no prophecy, no pirates. Just sand, surf, and ketamine. He's pulled out of his fantasy by Ace sitting down in his chair and cutting two small neat lines of coke on a first aid kit.

"You first."

With a shrug Ash does a line and leans back,   letting the upper combined with the downer and meeting in the happy middle. This was nice, this was real nice. He hears Ace set the first aid kit aside and lean back in his own chair. A particularly first wave rocks the boat, and the spray of salt water comes close to hitting Ash and getting his socks wet. That would've been a total buzzkill.

"Hey Ashy, I been meaning to ask ya somethin'." Ace's voice floats in through the haze of casual drug use.

"Shoot."

"What's the story behind you and the Necronomicon?"

Ah, thats a tough one. He looks up at the bright and clear stars, and thinks back to the cabin in the woods. What an awful fucked up four nights that ruined his life for good. Where to even start with that shit?

"You don't gotta tell me if you don't wanna." Ace adds, probably taking his silence as a negative reaction.

"No it's fine, been years since then don't mind talking about. It's just...a long story."

"I got nothin' but time, Ashy."

He smiles and gently taps the metal of his fake hand. Guess he better start at the beginning of it all, back when it was just four up to no good kids on a camping trip.

\---

"So then, get this, all the furniture started to laugh at me!" Ash waves his hand and chuckles at the memory.

He and Ace had moved from the lawnchairs to laying on the deck of the boat to see the stars better. And his ass was getting sore from all the sitting he was doing.

"And then the lamp started trying to dance at me? It was swaying and I started swaying too, it was great until I accidentally shot this guy Jake. No relation to the other Jake in the woods by the way."

"Uh huh." Ace says, he had been listening so patiently for a good hour as Ash rambled.

"Although I was really woozy from blood loss after cutting my hand off so I'm not entirely sure the laughing furniture was real, but I did accidentally shoot that guy. Then he was stabbed, accidentally though I was a deadite then so I didn't see it but I'm sure it happened-"

"Hold on." Ace interrupts, "When did you cut your hand off again?"

"After cutting Linda's head in two. She bite me and infected my hand, so it started attacking me."

"Ah ok, you almost lost me there." Ace replies, somehow managing to not sound sarcastic. Ash wonders if he still believes the story or not. He usually lost people after the tree rape part.

"Anyway the girl with him could read the Necronomicon and it was her family's cabin!  Scotty lied to us the whole time!" Ash laughs at his own joke and sighs, "Scotty was a real asshole, y'know?"

"Sounds like a nice guy to me. Nothin' wrong with a little B an E on a summer vacation."

Ash shrugs, despite Ace not being able to see it. He hated thinking about Scotty to much, lots of unresolved shit there. With Linda he kinda got over the whole decapitating and burying her in a shallow grave. He barely knew Shelly, so not too much love lost there. Cheryl he missed so god damn much it hurt, but at least he knew why he missed her. She was his sister, 'course he missed her more than anything.

"What happened to Scotty anyway? You skipped over that part." Ace asks, somehow managing to get right to his soft and insecure spots.

"He died after trying to leave. Dunno what got him out there, came back beat to shit. I knew I should've went with him but Linda was hurt...I mean she was possessed and as good as dead but I didn't know that at the time." Ash wonders if maybe he could've made it out with Scotty. He was the chosen one and all, if he was with Scotty out there he could've maybe fended off whatever got to him then.

"So were you and Scotty like...a thing?"

"Thing?"

"Yeah like...dating." Ace clarifies, once again prodding at Ash's insecurities.

"It's complicated." He replies carefully, "I mean we fucked around a few times, but we were both drunk and I'm sure he didn't remember. Doesn't matter now." Ash finishes, clearing his throat as he felt it tighten. He really didn't want to cry over his weird homoerotic relation with his highschool best friend to the drug runner.

"Fair enough."

Silence falls for a bit, and Ash pushes the thoughts and pains of what could've beens and maybes to the back of his mind where cocaine can't find. Now it was Ace's turn to talk.

"Anyway long story short, I got out of the cabin went home, was called a serial killer, disowned and left town. Your turn."

He hears Ace snort, and sit up a bit to take a drink from the whisky bottle between them before laying back down.

"What do you wanna know? Afraid it ain't as fun as your shit but fuck it, I'll talk."

Ash hums, he wanted to learn anything about Ace. Guy was interesting in the non supernatural way, no demons no powers no voodoo. Just a lucky shit and he cards. He knew what he really wanted to learn, but he should warm up to that.

"Favorite color?"

Ace snorts and he can see him turn his head to glare at Ash from the corner of his eye.

"Pink."

"What, for real?"

"It brings out my eyes."

"Through your sunglasses."

"Mmhmm."

Thinking back, Ace did wear a lot of pink. Whether it brought out his eyes was debatable, but he managed to work it. Ash was more of a dark blue fan personally.

"Your full name really Ashley?" Ace asks suddenly.

"What is this? Twenty questions?" Ash shoots back. He got used to the cruel joke of his name a long time ago, but he was allowed to be defensive.

"I'll tell you my full name of you tell me yours."

Fuck, now he had to know what Ace was short for.

"My full name is Ashley Joanne Williams actually." He admits with as much pride as he can muster as Ace begins to laugh.

"Joanne??" Ace says through fits of snorting, "Is that really your middle name?"

"Yes."

Ace's laughter dies down over the course of way too fucking long. He listens to the man take a few breaths and giggle once more in angry silence.

"If it helps," Ace begins, having calmed down enough to act mature, "My full name is Acelyn Visconti. No middle name."

Ash is silent for a full three seconds before snorting, "Acelyn?"

"My mom wanted a girl."

"Mine too. You have any siblings?" Ash asks, steering the subject away from embarrassing names.

"Nah, she had complications and couldn't have children after me. Spoiled the shit outta me too." Ace says with a smirk. Ash rolls his eyes, figures the man was an only child. Now onto the good stuff.

"What about your kids?"

Immediately Ace grows silent. A warm ocean breeze passes, mocking the sudden change mood between them. Ash turns his head to look at Ace, who stares pointedly upwards at the sky as his fingers rubbed against the neck of the whiskey bottle. He wasn't going to let him walk away from this.

"They...they were twins. Boy and a girl, born in 92'. They would same age as Pablo." Ace says slowly, his face a mask of indifference, "Looked just like me. Well when I was younger, of course. Curly hair and all."

Ash wonders what Ace would've looked like younger. He looked pretty damn good now in his opinion, made sense he would look good a young man too.

"You marry the mom?" Ash asks, carefully watching Ace's face for any change in expression. He sees a slight smile appear on the man's lips.

"No, never did. I proposed though, big diamond ring and everything. She was...really somethin'." Ace replies, voice soft and distant. He sounded like he really did love her, and his kids.

"Fuck are you doing up here with me then?"

Ace closes his eyes, and Ash watches him take a slow deep breath before sitting up. He stares at the graying black hair as Ace downs a much more than a shot of whiskey from the bottle before setting it aside. Ash sits up too, realizing he just hit a real sore spot.

"I'm not a very good person, Ash." Ace says slowly, obviously a little tipsy now, "Especially not then. Gambling's a real addiction, nothin' close to drugs let me tell you."

Ash watches the other man's eyes grow distant, and shiny. Shit, was he going to cry? Fuck.

"Shit adds up. You get a few debts, rob Jack to pay Johnny, that sort of bad news. I got in too deep down in Argentina, so deep I couldn't pay them back. Not with my life."

Ace lets out a small, heartbroken laugh. Ash would rather hear the pitched crazed laughter of Linda than that noise ever again.

"You know who's live's could pay it back? My fucking fiancee and kids."

Ash feels his body grow cold, despite the substances in them.

"Lined them up against the wall and blew their heads off right in front of me." Ace's voice had grown so quiet he could barely hear him over the waves, "They were just fourteen, Ashy. Barely even teenagers. Not nearly enough time in this world before it was taken like that." He snaps his fingers, then shudders.

Cautiously, Ash reaches out and rests his hand on Ace's shoulder. He expects the man to shy away, but to his surprise Ace leans in. Resting his head on Ash's chest.

"Don't know where they took my fiance. Didn't kill her, but I can imagine what the did to her. Makes me wish they did."

He feels Ace wipe his eyes and hears a small sniffle. To think Ace had been through such a nightmare. Ash had seen his fair share of hell, and he knew how to compartmentalize that shit far away from his life. And evidently so did Ace.

"The dead aren't always the evil ones, y'know?" Ace whispers softly, words slurring from his extra shots of whiskey.

"I'm sorry Ace." Ash says, unable to vocalize and real words of comfort. Instead he starts rubbing Ace's back, which seems to relax him.

"Thanks Ashy. You're the first person I ever told. Stories a real downer."

"You're telling me."

Ace snorts and shakes his head. Humor was always Ash's coping mechanism, but he couldn't recommend it to everyone. He still had trouble talking about that night without trying to laugh at it.

"Let's not talk about this in the morning ok? Let's pretend I got blackout drunk and fell asleep on the deck, alright?" Ace slurs out, alcohol starting to get the better of him, "Hell, let's say you even beat me at poker? That sound good Ashy?"

"Whatever you say, Lucky Strike."

Ace pulls away from him enough to look into his eyes. He can see a thought flickering behind those hazel eyes. Slowly Ace leans forward, close enough that Ash could smell the scent of alcohol on Ace's breath. The man pauses, eyes flicking up to meet his and giving him ample time to move away. Ash remains still, and Ace closes the gap between them for a kiss. Ace's lips are dry and his beard pokes at his face, but it's surprisingly nice. The other pulls away quickly and stumbles to his feet before any real fun can start.

"We don't talk about that either." Ace slurs as Ash rises to steady him with a firm hand.

"I can live with that." Ash lies.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this wasnt like...Too Much. I say i dont write sad shit but my mgs fics say otherwise


	7. Somebody to Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if i can pump out 3 chapters even tho i want it to be am even ten but i only have 2 chapters left

Ace was serious about not talking about that night. Ash was pretty sure that Ace wasn't blackout drunk, but he didn't want to actually address it directly. Just his luck, both the guys he ever kissed pretend not to remember it at all. Was he really that bad of a kisser? Ash sighs as he leans against the wheel, nothin' but water and uncomfortable feelings. His thoughts are interrupted as Ace scrambles up from the lower deck out the cabin and takes the wheel, yanking it to the right and causing the boat to rock dangerously.

"Shit where's the fucking fire?" Ash asks, barely managing to keep balance as the boat steadies.

"About three kilometers portwards. American Coast Guards patrolling nearby. We're sandwiched between Cuba and Mexico. Risky fucking buisness." Ace replies, "Hold the wheel."

Ash does as he's told and grabs onto the wheel as Ace rushes to the engine and starts it up. The winds had been favorable enough for them to make impressive time on them alone, allowing their limited amount of gas to be used in case of emergency. Ace rushes back to the wheel and grabs it again.

"Adjust the sails for me Ashy."

"Oh so you get the easy job, huh?" Ash rolls his eyes but walks over to the sails any way, turning the to catch the breeze at an angle and speed their progress faster "Where are we heading?"

"A gonna scoot by a small gap in the patrols near the Mexican coast. Cuba tends to have more boats in the water, and if they catch an American ship they tend to get nasty. I can talk my way out with the Mexican coast guard better than Cubans anyway."  Ace explains, grabbing a pair of binoculars from below the wheel before tipping his sunglasses up and looking towards the horizon.

Ash nods in interest. The man looked really good all confident and shit, he loved it. He really, really wants to bring up two days ago but he figures it wouldn't hurt to wait until after they get past little foible in their trip.

"If we get stopped you can't speak English."

"Fuck am I supposed to speak then?" Ash asks, holding back a snort.

"That's the best part Ashy," Ace replies with a smirk, "You don't speak." He lowers the binoculars and winks before putting on his sunglasses.

"Real funny." Ash deadpans.

Ace relents the wheel without responding and makes his way to the small cabin. He watches him take the shortwave radio speaker and say a few things, nodding thoughtfully before heading back out.

"Lucks on our side today. If we keep this speed we'll scoot by the patrols and get to the Honduras before nightfall."

"With you here lucks always on my side." Ash coos back, returning Ace's wink with his own. Ace laughs at that, and the sound honest to god makes his heart flutter.

"Keep talking like that and someones goin' overboard." Ace teases, taking the wheel back and course correcting.

"Ah you would never. You like me to much." He was pushing his luck with that one, but Ace gently elbows him instead.

"Easy there tiger, you might make me believe that line."

Ash wonders if he could convey what he felt that easily. Never had been good with all these precious fee fees, he dated Linda for months and was unsure if he even wanted to be with her for longer. Nothing wrong he just had a lot of mixed emotions about well, everyone. He really wanted to stop thinking about these things, but here they were coming back to his brain like termites. He had known Ace for about two weeks and was, for lack of a better term, utterly infatuated with him.

"I'm just teasin' you." Ace replies, taking Ash's silence as a bad thing. God dammit.

"We safe yet?" Ash asks, deciding it would be best to change the subject.

"Huh,  yeah probably. Should be out of sight by now. I'll adjust the sails and get us going faster."

He watches the man turn the sails with expertise he could only dream off, and the minor adjustments allow them to considerably speed up. He would be surprised if they weren't at the Honduras in only a few hours. Man, that leads to another dilemma. The Necronomicon. Getting rid of it would be nice and benefit him in every way, but then again he couldn't help but remember what his evil clone said about him. Without the book and the prophecies he would just be...a nobody. Sure being the chosen one sucked, but hey it was better than just an old emotionally fucked up loser who slaughtered his friends and family.

"Ashy."

He looks up to see Ace holding his deck of cards up. He fans them out and offers the spread to Ash. He takes a card from fan and rolls his eyes, a Ten of Spades.

He places it back in the deck before Ace prompts him. The man shuffles the cards thoroughly before pulling his card out and looking at it, letting out a hum on interest.

"You're anxious." Ace says, correct as always.

"Really now? This that cartography shit again?"

"Cartomancy, and yes. You feelin' down about the Necronomicon, right?"

Was he that easy to read? Or was Ace just really good at reading others. Probably a mix of both if he was going to give himself some credit. Ash shrugs in response and leans against the railing of the boat. No reason to lie to the guy when he was on the money.

"A bit." Ash admits with a heavy sigh, "It's been with me for a long time, y'know? Kind of...attached I guess."

He wasn't quite ready to spill all his insecurities to Ace. And he was pretty sure Ace did not want to know about them either. They had their heart to heart already, no need to whine more.

Ace nods knowingly, shuffling the cards with flourish before holding them out again. Ash pics a card, not even glancing at it before allowing Ace to shuffle it away and pull it out again. The Ten of Hearts.

"I think you'll be fine without it in the end."

"Cards tell you that?"

"They've never been wrong before." Ace replies, tucking them into his shirt pocket.

Ash thinks about his first reading and the Ace of Hearts he pulled. Ace did say it didn't have to be love unless he wanted it to be, it was new beginnings or some shit.

"Ashy, you're thinking again."

"Oh right, I don't do that."

\---

A few short hours later Ace pulls the boat expertly into a small dock at a very cute  seaside house. He can see lots of weird things Brujo had on his property, and feels mildly safer. He grabs the rope and jumps onto the dock, wobbling dangerously and almost falling. The world started to shake harder than jello in an earthquake and he felt like he was on top of it with stilts.

"Easy there," Ace says, landing next to him and resting a hand on his shoulder, "Ever been at sea that long?"

"No, fuck me." Ash groans, clutching his head and closing his eyes. The longest he ever sailed had only been a few hours at most. He'd been a bit wobbly afterwards but not like this.

"Here sit down I'll tie the boat up." Ace offers.

Ash groans in agreement and stumbles down the dock to sit on the ground and try not to feel like shit. He can hear a few people approaching and risks a glance over to see four people that probably lived in the cute house fifty yards away. He assumes its just Pablo's family and closes his eyes, trying to get the world to stop moving. This was worse than any hangover. He was going to die and vomit. He hears Ace's voice approach, yammering on in Spanish to the mini Pablo's.

"C'mon Ashy, get up." Ace orders. With a groan he forces himself to stand, gratefully leaning on Ace's shoulder and allowing him to lead him away.

"I'm gonna vomit."

"Is that a threat or a promise?"

Ash collapses to his knees, and vomits on Ace's shoes. He dry heaves a few times, and spits out bile with a groan.

"Sorry."

Ace's rough hands pull him back to his feet by the collar of his shirt He stands still as he can only for the world to bounce around him like was a in a bouncy castle.

"It's fine, keep walking it'll help." Ace says, sounding surprisingly cool with the fact he threw up on his nice pair of shoes.

"Yes sir." Ash replies, leaning almost all his weight on the smaller man and dutifully stumbling forward.

It takes only fifteen minutes for the world to stop shaking, but he spends at least ten more leaning on Ace's shoulder and enjoying the view of the slowly sinking sun. They don't really say anything, which is fine by him. Eventually though Ace steers him back to the house and he forces himself to walk upright, and act like less of a baby. Ace passes him his bag containing his essentials. Chainsaw, book of the dead, shotgun, shotgun shells. Important stuff.

"Gabe can understand most English so feel free to talk to him. I can translate for Nonno and Nonna." Ace says as he opens the door, "Also take your shoes off."

Ash slips his shoes off and follows Ace into the dinning room. There's a three people there, an old lady, an old man and a young guy that looks vaguely like Pablo. Ace enthusiastically greets and hugs them all, chatting happily in Spanish. Its all really cute, he hates to interrupt it. Instead he remains an awkward fly on the wall. Even though Ace does introduce him to all three of them, and try translating but he doesn't really want to join in. The older lady, Nonna does show him over to the room he would be sleeping in after pinching his cheek and saying something he didn't understand. He drops his bag there, wondering if it would be rude to get the necro-business out of the way as fast as possible.

"Hey Ash, what do you want for dinner?"

On second thought that could wait.

\--

"What are these again?" Ash asks after swallowing a mouthful of homemade food.

"Baleadas." Ace replies.

"Tell her these are the best fucking beleadas I've ever eaten in my whole life."

Ace snorts, and conveys his message to the older lady he was ordered to call abuela and not nonna and the older man abuelo. Gabe was apparently Pablo's dads brother and he was really funny, although he mostly asked about Pablo.

"She said thank you, and to eat as much as you want."

"I love it here." Ash says, eating another baleada with a certain desperation. He mostly lived off garbage and homemade food was making him feel better than ever. He wished Pablo and Kelly could've joined him.

Ace rolls his eyes, he had been forced by Abuela to remove his sunglasses and hat at the table. He was sporting a really bad tan line from his sunglasses that looked very cute. Gabe says a few things to Ace and the man nods before turning back to him.

"Gabby says that we can do the ritual early tomorrow. Depending on how long it takes we could be outta here by tomorrow."

Ash nods, pushing a few refried beans around on his plate. That was fine, absolutely fine.

"So uh, what's the ritual gonna be? Last time I did this thing it was actually pretty cool, except for a few times it was really fucked. It gonna be like that?"

Ace shrugs, leaning back in his chair, "Shouldn't be, apparently it's a real easy ritual."

"Great!" Ash says with fake enthusiasm. He was hoping for at least a fun acid trip like last time.

He finishes the rest of dinner in silence, watching the family talk and share memories. He tries to help them do the dishes after dinner but they shoo him out of the kitchen and to his room. He lays back on his bed and tries to sleep, which proved surprisingly difficult for reasons he couldn't quite put his finger on. Ash rolls over, reaching over only to be met with the edge of the bed. Oh yeah, Ace wasn't here. They had shared a bed since they first met. Although they really only cuddled three or four times he had sorta gotten used to his presence. God he was in deep with that shitty Italian. He rolls onto his back and sighs, would it be weird to ask Ace to come with him back to Elk Grove and buy a bunch of weed before going to Jacksonville. Probably not, he'll think about it tomorrow.

He's just about to nod off after putting such thoughts out of his head when his door opens. Ash cracks an eye open and looks at the door, happy to see a familiar face silhouetted in the hallway light.

"Hey, uh you asleep?" Ace asks, voice a low whisper.

"I'm up. You have a bad dream?" Ash teases, sitting up slightly.

"No. Mind if I share a bed? The couch sucks." Ace asks, casually sliding in and closing the door as if he already knew the answer.

"Yeah, get in here." Ash replies, scooting over to the far side to give Ace some room.

Seeing as the bed was a full mattress instead of a king or queen it was a much tighter fit for two adult men. Ace was a wiry little shit, but he's by no means small. And apparently the best way for them both to fit was for Ace to wiggle into his arms and press his face into Ash's chest. He only hesitates for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around Ace. It was a bit hot to be cuddling, but he had gotten used to the more tropical heat and could bear it for Ace. Sleep was already coming much easier with the sound of his steady breathing.

"Ace...you remember what we talked about two nights ago? What happened?" Ash asks, voice heavy with sleep. He was going to wait for a better time but he might as well ask now.

"...I remember." Ace replies, voice barely above a whisper, "Sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"Don't apologize Lucky Strike it was fine." Ash says, he swallows nervously and wonders what to say next. He really should've planned this more.

Then again shoot first, think later was his motto.

He takes Ace's chin in his hands and tips his head up, pressing their lips together. Ace's feel just as chapped as last time, but he doesn't smell like alcohol. Ace's hand gently runs through his hair and he presses into the kiss before pulling away slightly. He can feel Ace's soft breaths on his lips, and resists the urge to kiss him again.

"Thought you weren't into men." Ace comments.

"Never said I wasn't. Just never thought about it until now."

He hears Ace sigh and lower himself back onto the bed, "I give you a gay panic?"

"I'm not panicking about it." Ash huffs laying down and pulling Ace closer, "Just getting used to it."

A few beats of silence pass between them, and he almost falls asleep.

"So you never fucked a guy right?"

Ash shoves Ace off the bed to a chorus of laughter as he tumbles away. He takes all the blankets and pillows with him on his way down.

"Ashy c'mon I'm just playin'." Ace coos from the floor. He can make out the man's shadowy figure sitting up from the edge of the bed, "It's ok if it's your first time I can-"

Abuelas voice calls from the other side of the door in a stern motherly voice. He can't understand it exactly but he's sure she's telling them to go the fuck to sleep. Ace replies apologetically and crawls back onto the bed.

"We have to be quiet."

"What are we? Twelve? I'm the chosen one I can do what I want."

"Sure, Ashy." Ace replies, forcefully reinserting himself into his arms. Ash begrudgingly holds him.

"Night." He mumbles.

"Night."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now u may be asking sam, are u gonna writr porn of these old men? And the answer is no (but i will for one easy payment of 5 dollars via paypal)


	8. L.O.V.E

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, back again.

Bright lights sear Ash's eyes and he groans, raising his hand to protect his poor eyes from the sudden influx of pain. He can hear and feel Ace shift next go him and let an equally annoyed grunt of pain. Ace says something in Spanish, sounding tired and taking up an exasperated tone.

"Rise and shine. Up, up!" Abuela replies stern as ever, this was the first time he heard her speak any English.

He raises his head and squints at her, she had opened the curtains and was dutifully letting all this pesky light in. It was a beautiful fucking day and he wanted a damn nap.

"Can we get like...five more minutes?" Ash whines, flopping his head back on the bed and almost immediately falling asleep. Ace's further rustling keeps him from slipping away.

Abuela says some more things in Spanish, and Ash reluctantly sits up. No need to be a bad guests, as much as he wanted to sleep in they did have business to do. He shakes Ace's shoulder.

"C'mon get up Lucky Strike."

Ace groans in response and buries his face in the pillow. Abuela sighs, shakes her head and walks out, saying something else that Ace ignores to sleep instead. Ash considers going out to get breakfast without Ace, but he felt weird not being able to talk to half the people in the room.

"Ace, where's the shower?" He asks, figuring it would give the guy some more time to rest while he cleans up.

Immediately the man sits up, suddenly wide awake, and grins, "I'll join ya."

"No."

Ace's shitty smile doesn't waver in the slightest and he leans against Ash's shoulder. Looking up with big hazel eyes and all but fluttering his eyelashes at him.

"You sure?"

Ash hesitates for a second, and he can feel Ace pouncing on his moment of weakness by running a hand down his thigh. Ash shoos the wayward hand away, and gets out of bed.

"If you wanna wait to shower there's this nice little swimming hole out in the woods." Ace offers, voice smooth as molasses.

God if there was one thing he loved more than killing the forces of the evil dead it was a good swimming hole.

"Okay, I'm in."

\---

Ash didn't want to seem like an asshole white guy, even though he absolutely was, but the fact that he had been served scrambled eggs as opposed to most of the ethnic food did warm his heart. He loved spice and beans too but he wasn't twenty anymore, a breakfast like that would destroy him. God these little Pablo's were great. Although it was odd that Gabe was missing, and Ace had managed to slip off too. He pushes a few eggs around on his plate, and tries not to think about his impending ritual.

"Hey Ashy," Ace's voice pipes up and he looks over to the doorway to see him still without his hat, "Gabby says we can do the ritual in the afternoon, give him a few hours to set it up. Also he wants to talk to you."

Ash reluctantly gets up and follows Ace to a shed surrounded by piles of rocks with goat skulls resting on top. Inviting. Ace pushes the door open and waves him into the small dim space. Piles of herbs and rugs were on the ground arranged in circles with unlit candles. Gabe smiles and waves him over.

"So what do you need?" Ash asks, standing awkwardly in the middle of the shack.

Gabe doesn't respond, instead he presses two cold fingers to Ash's temple and closes his eyes. Ash glances over at Ace, who shrugs, just as clueless as he felt. Gabe shakes his head and steps back, waving Ace over and having a quiet conversation in Spanish.

"You really don't have to whisper guys. I took French in college. Je parle pas Espanol."

"It's Je ne parle pas Espanol, Ashy."

"Oh so you know French too, hot shot?"

Ace rolls his eyes and thanks Gabe before grabbing Ash's arm and leading him out of the shack and towards a treeline.

"I speak Italian. Really close those three."

"Whatever, what was that about?"

Ace sighs, hand sliding down Ash's arm only to awkwardly brush his fake hand. With a laugh, he switches sides and entwines their fingers before responding.

"He said you're not ready to give up the book."

Ash feels dread build inside of him. Figures this shit wouldn't be easy.

"What do I have to do then?"

He hears Ace let out a thoughtful hum, "He said you weren't, oh how does it go, at peace with your future?"

"Mmhmm." Ash grunts back.

"He said for the chosen one to give up their roll they have to be at peace with themselves and passing on their troubles."

Ash lets out a snort, "Oh I'm at peace with that. My problems as someone else's, that's the dream!"

He can see Ace squint at him from the corner of his eye and keeps as good of a poker face as he can.

"You really at peace with passing on your legacy?"

Ash doesn't respond. He very much was not okay with that, but he didn't know how to say it. Ace doesn't press him, instead he leads him down an almost imperceptible path through the lush trees and slightly up a hill. It's hell on his knees but thankfully it slopes down to reveal a very beautiful enclosed pond. It was shaped like a fifty-foot bean and the water was a clear sparkling blue. He could see the soft sand and rocks all the way to the bottom.

"Hey this is nice!" Ash says, releasing Ace's hand and making his way to the shore of the water. He kicks his sandals off and starts unbuttoning his hawaiian shirt eagerly.

Ace sidles up next to him, dropping his button up next to Ash's onto a nearby rock. He tilts his head, catching sight of a tattoo on Ace's shoulder. Unsurprisingly it was a spade symbol with an A in it. The ink was long faded from the crisp black to a gentle blue.

"When you get that?" Ash asks.

Ace looks down at the ink and shrugs, "When I was twenty. Was gonna get a whole sleeve but well, tattoos are easy for the wrong people to recognize."

"Got anymore?"

Ace winks, walking forward and splashing into the water, "You'll have to find them."

Ash grins, popping off his wooden hand to avoid having to air dry it for hours and follows Ace into the pond. The water was surprisingly warm, but still cooler than the ambient temperature so hey it was a win. He walks out to about waist deep before dunking his head under the water, surfacing quickly and shaking his head with a grin. This was nice. A wave of water hit his shoulder, and he turns to see Ace standing innocently few feet away.

"Are you challenging me?"

"Hmm? What did you say?" Ace asks, hands trailing along the surface of the water threateningly.

"Oh Lucky Strike you just entered the splash zone." Ash turns and makes a quick lunge forward, using his good hand to fling a sizable amount of water at Ace. The man jumps back, avoiding a majority of the water easily.

"Dunno about that  Ashy. I'm feelin' high and dry." Ace coos, backing away quickly.

Ash gives chase, running through the water as best he can. Ace obviously wasn't expecting him to be so quick, and before he can turn tail and swim Ash tackles him. He forces the squirming man underwater for a few seconds before releasing him. Ace surfaces quickly with a gasp and a laugh. He weakly splashes Ash and paddles a few feet away.

"Was that necessary?" Ace asks, smile betraying his faux annoyed tone.

"Yes. No one wins a splash fight against me."

"Is that because you drown them?"

Ash grins and lays back in the water, floating serenely. It takes more to win a splash fight than people think.

"Hey Ace?" Ash starts, staring at the clouds drifting past the clear blue sky.

"What is it?"

"When I pass off the Necronomicon do you wanna come with me up north? Won't be anymore deadites, just you, me, and Eli."

He listens to the birds chirp, and the wind rustling the leaves of the trees above him. There's a small splash of water and he listens to Ace swim towards him.

"Sounds fun, I'm in."

Ash feels his heart flutter at such a simple response. Ace was a complex guy, he had a past more colorful than his own. He could stomach all the blood and gore that came with being near Ash, and most importantly, he lived. He lived and he wanted to be with him more, even without the good stuff.

"You mean that?"

"Sure I do. You're a fun guy to have around, Ashy. Besides I'm sure there's a lot more roadside attractions you wanna look at, huh?"

Man, he really did feel like crying at that. What the fuck was his problem? Well he knew his problem but he hated to admit it. So instead he sits up and splashes a bunch of water into Ace's unsuspecting face, initiating one hell of splash battle. It ends when Ash lifts Ace over his shoulders and falls back in an attempt to drown him.

"Ash for the love of god please stop." Ace gasps out, crawling out of the water and laying on the shore, "Have you considered chilling out?"

"No." Ash says firmly, getting out of the water a shaking his hair out. He stoops down to grab his shirt off the ground and puts it on, buttoning it up halfway.

"Fair enough." Ace says with a shrug, sitting up and putting on his shirt, he doesn't even bother buttoning it up, "Let's go do that ritual. Then head home."

\---

Ash digs the book and dagger out of his duffel bag. He looks over the familiar fleshy cover of the book and sighs. He flips it open and leafs through the familiar blood inked pages. Still was never going to bother learning Summerian to read this shit. He takes the notes of the translated text out, and crumples them up before dropping the papers in his bag. He smiles at the image of him appearing back in ancient times. That sure was fun, and no one would ever believe him. Ah well. He closes the book for the final time and walks out of the house towards the shack. Ace was waiting outside with his arms crossed. His hair was still slightly damp and curled at the ends since escaping the confines of his hat for so long. It was a great look he should wear more.

"Good luck in there, buddy."

Ash grins and ruffles Ace's hair, ignoring the sour look he gets, "Keep it, I'll be fine."

He pushes the door open to find Gabe sitting on a rug. He points to the one across from him and Ash dutifully sits down. In between them was a bowl of water with a candle floating in the middle. Ash sets the dagger on the left, and the book on the right.  Gabe nods sagely, and holds out a familiar glass of black liquid. Time to go soul searching. Ash knocks back the drink, and is immediately transported to a dock facing Jacksonville.

He holds up both of his hands, and two beers appear in them. God he loved these Honduran rituals. He leans back in his beach chair and sighs.

"Hey Ash."

"Hey Eli." He replies, sipping the beers.

"What's on your mind, man. Been missing you. Pablo doesn't feed me nearly enough blueberries."

"I feed you too many blueberries anyway."

Eli huffs, and crawls over to him. Ash sets a beer down and scoops Eli up, setting him on his lap.

"You're not ready yet."

Ash stares at the Jacksonville skyline. His pet bearded dragon was right. Despite everything he wasn't ready. So many innocent people die because of him, because he just so happened to roll through town and they went to Bob Evans on the wrong day. Evil has a way of finding him and killing anything and everything near him no matter what.

But despite all of that, despite the Deadites that always came for him, all the pain, suffering and death that lived in his wake, he couldn't give up the book.

The prophecy took everything. Linda, Scotty, Cheryl, Shelly, Rose. His youth, his father, his hand. His entire fucking life because of the demons on the other side.

The forces picked him to stop the evil dead. It made him...something. It gave all his mindless suffering worth. To give up his legacy was to let his sister, the once human deadites, everyone who died by his hand worth less than fucking nothing.

"I can't." Ash admits, closing his eyes to hold back the tears that threatened to fall, "I can't give it up."

Eli's claw gently pats his leg, "I know, Ash."

He drops the beers and rubs his eyes, taking a deep breath. What was he going to do? He spent all this time coming down here with Ace for nothing. Another fucking disappointment to add to his whole fucking life of hell. No happy retirement to Mackinac Island with Ace.

"What do I do?"

"Give it more time. Fight off some different demons."

Ash sighs and lets his hands fall into his lap. The sky is a steady pinkish haze with floating letter shaped clouds.

"Different Demons?"

"Not Deadites, but the human monsters."

"I'm not following."

"If you want to be with Ace, use your prophecy for good. Help the guy."

He runs a finger over Eli's scales, as a thought blooms in his mind. No plans, just an idea. He was the chosen one, no doubt only able to die with Deadites or demons. The darkside doesn't realize that real monsters hide in the hearts of man.

Ash opens his eyes and locks eyes with Gabe. Without speaking Ash takes the Necronomicon and Dagger before standing and walking out of the shack. Ace perks up as Ash walks past him a few feet out into the field before stopping. He takes a slow breath and turns to look at Ace. He can see the man eyeing the book and knife with disappointment. Ash makes sure not to dwell on it.

"Follow me." Ash turns and starts towards the house again as Ace trots forward before falling in step next to him.

"Uhh, how'd it go?"

"Ace, are those men still alive?"

"What?"

"The men that hurt your family."

A deathly silence falls between them as Ash beelines to the guest room. He shoves the book and knife in the duffel bag before turning to Ace. A look of deep sadness was painted on the mans normally easy going face, along with powerful rage. The answer was painted on his face.

"Wanna get 'em?"

"Ash thats-"

"No listen. I'm the chosen one still. I can't die by anything short than an Eldritch abomination from hell. Those guys are monsters yeah, but I've taken bigger and better."

He watches Ace's face carefully. He was stripped of his sunglasses, and Ash can see the mettle of man in his eyes. Sheer determination that could melt through steel.

"Are you serious." Ace asks, voice steady and cold.

"I would never joke about this."

Ash takes a slow breath, and rests his real hand on Ace's shoulder. He meets Ace's eyes with his own, and lets himself be vulnerable.

"I'm not ready to bury my demons, but I can help bury yours."

Ace reaches forward, grabbing his shoulder and pulling Ash into a hug, arms squeezing him hard. He can feel Ace's fists ball into his Hawaiian shirt as he buries his head in Ash's shoulder. Slowly he wraps his arms around Ace's shoulder and squeezes back, good hand stroking the mans back soothingly.

"I know they're still alive. Those fuckers are still out there." Ace says softly, voice shaking with grief. He can hear a few muffled gasps before Ace speaks again.

"I want to pull the trigger when we find them."

Ash nods into Ace's hair, smelling of fresh water and wind.

"Where are they?"

"Argentine. Haven't been back in ten years, but I have people that can find them for me." Ace pulls back and grins at Ash, that familiar smirk taking over his face, "I got the luck of the devil, Ashy. They can't hide from us."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im retconning the previous chapter 8 and bringing you the scholocky ending yall fucking DESERVE.


	9. Somewhere Over the Rainbow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again with a long one. Buckle in bitches

Ace makes a few calls and before he knows it Gabe is driving them down a bumpy backwoods road towards an abandoned airfield. He had to admit the man works fast when he's determined, wasn't even half past three. Ash shifts awkwardly between the two, he's not used to riding bitch. It didn't help that he had a good five inches on both Ace and Gabe but at least the Necronomicon and chainsaw could go in the back.

"Ace."

"Hmm?"

"What are we doing?"

Ash hated to interuppt a man in his groove, especially a groove of avenging his families untimely death that involved sixteen phoncalls conducted in wgat sounded like four seperate languages, but he did want to know what the fuck was going on.

"Flyin' to Argentina. Buddy of mine has a twin-engine plane and owes me a favor."

He was starting to get a suspicion that Ace Visconti wasn't a real person, but actually a character from an Indiana Jones movie.

"Are...you flying?"

Ace turns to him with that cheeky grin, sunlight glinting off his sunglasses, "Sure, unless you wanna fly."

Ash lets out a laugh and shakes his head, "Where did you learn to fly a plane?"

"Used to be in the Air Force. Joined up a bit after the Falklands war when the force was broke as shit. I did most of my training before getting a discharge."

"Why were you discharged?"

Ace lets out a soft laugh, and turns to look out the window, "Got a bit too friendly with a few Commander's."

"How friendly?" Ash teases, nudging the man's elbow, "Mile high club friendly?"

"Oh I wish. Just friendly enough to catch heat. Coulda been worse but I got my wings. Comes in handy."

He couldn't really picture Ace in any sort of military uniform. While he could easily see the man in a suit it was more of the sleazeball variety than any actual classy image. It was interesting to learn more about Ace, he seemed like a run of the mill con man at first but even after a short week Ash couldn't help but be charmed by him. While he certainly wasn't going to be the first or the last to fall under Ace's spell, it felt surprisingly genuine. At least as far as Ash's admittedly rudimentary understanding of intimacy was concerned.

The truck slows to a stop as road clears to a long runway. A small building was located fifty feet from them, along with a nice looking plane. Ace hops out first and waves over a to a tall dark man in coveralls who exits the building. With a glance at Gabe and wave goodbye, Ash gets out of the cramped truck. Grabbing his duffle bag from the back and slinging it over his shoulder as he approaches the pair. Ace takes the keys from the man, and before Ash can even say hi the guy retreats into the small building.

"Who was that?"

"Mr. Ojomo. Don't really know much about him honestly. He caught a lot of heat in the U.S for somethin' but he doesn't talk about it."

Ash watches the shape through the window curiously, following Ace to the small plane.

"Huh, what's he doing' here then?"

"Lyin' low, works as a touch point for fliers between here and Argentina for the most part. Real nice guy."

Ace unlocks a part of the plane for cargo and Ash tasses his bag in. He notices another bright pink suitcase similar to the one Ace had brought with him to the States. Ace grabs it and happily unzips the thing to pull out an old looking bomber jacket which he immediately pulls on over his button up. In the bag Ash catches sight of a plastic bag full of white powder, a revolver, and a few changes of clothing. Surprisingly in character for the con man.

"How long are we going to be flying?" Ash asks, looking at the plane and starting to feel a sense of dread.

"Well..." Ace says, voice pitching awkwardly as he prepares to relay some bad news, "Our destination is Salta, which is about five thousand miles away. We gotta refuel at Tarapota before we get to my buddies base."

Ash raises his eyebrows, glancing at the plane. He was pretty good with engines and shit. Boats, cars, he knew that. Plans weren't exactly his forte, but he could make a guess that this thing wasn't a jet.

"Should take about twenty hours. Seventeen if we're lucky."

Ash lets out a groan. He was never a fan of flying, always preferred the good American road trip. Ace opens the cockpit and waves him inside. He sadly climbs into the cramped metal coffin. It was roomier than he pictured, two seats up front in the cock pick and four in the back area. It reminded him of the third Jurassic Park film actually. Ace climbs in after him and takes his seat on the flires side, putting the headset on and speaking into the mic.

"Alright Ojomo, were ready to go." He glances back and flips a switch, causing the seat belts on sign to flash.

"Aww no safety demonstration?" Ash teases, climbing into the co-pilot seat and buckling in. He wasn't going to be any help, but hey he would probably never get a chance to do this again. It takes a few seconds to locate the other set of headphones and puts them on.

"Parachutes are in the back next to the chips. That's about all you need to know." Ace replies, flipping switches as the engines began to whine, "I printed out those fake passports for nothin'."

"We can use them on the way back." Ash replies, relaxing into the co-pilot seat.

"Mr. Visconti," A heavily accented voice says over the headphones, "You are clear for takeoff."

"Thanks, Ojomo." Ace replies, hitting some buttons and causing the plane to jolt forward. It slowly gains speed as it runs down the beat up tarmac, and soon enough they're taking to the skies smoothly.

"The doctor is in." the man adds cryptically.

"Oh good. Been awhile." Ace replies before looking at Ash, "You good?"

"Oh yeah. Feelin' great." Ash replies, only a little sarcastically. He feels his ears pop and he takes the headphones off with a sigh.

"Twenty hours?"

"I'll make it in fifteen."

Ash raises his eyebrows, watching sunlight sparkle off Ace's sunglasses. He looked right at home surprisingly.

"Got a friend I ain't seen in years. He'll know where the guys we're lookin' for are." The man supplies in response to Ash's curious expression.

"What's he like?"

"Oh, he's a  _ card _ ." Ace replies, voice dripping with an unfathomable sarcasm.

"Which one?" Ash jokes, leaning back in the co pilot seat as best he can. He wished these seats reclined. He might retire to the back for a nap later.

"Hmm, I'd say King of Spades."

"He a bad guy or somethin'?"

"The worst. We're on great terms though so don't even sweat it."

Considering they were going to Argentina to exact revenge on the men who killed Ace's family he couldn't even begin to imagine how bad of a guy this man could be for Ace to say that. Ash watches the clouds pass, deciding not to think about it too much. He had been goin' with the flow this long, no need to stop now. Whatever Ace was getting him into couldn't be worse than what he had already gone through. Besides, he was the chosen one. Only thing that could kill him was hell itself, high water be damned.

The view was pretty damn incredible. He assumed they had reached cruising altitude by now, so it was endless swaths of green land and blue skies of bright white clouds. Ash wasn't a huge fan of flying, much preferring the open road and its many idiotic attractions. But he had to admit this was pretty nice too.

"How long till we get there?"

"Well, we've been in the air for....twenty minutes, so about seventeen hours."

The novelty has really worn off fast, and it was only five. He maneuvers out of the co-pilot seat and makes his way to the back, digging through anything he can find for some form of entertainment. His complete and thorough search of the plane yields him a beat up copy of 1984 and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, a Rubik's cube, two more books in Spanish, a bag of potato chips, fourteen guns, a pack of water, shotgun shells, and a how to fold origami book with paper. This was going to be a real long seventeen hours.

"Havin' fun?" Ace calls from the front as Ash sits in one of the passenger seats in the back. More room to recline.

"It's like christmas morning." He replies, completing the Rubik's cube, "Catch."

Ace holds his hand up and Ash underhand tosses him the cube. The man takes one look at it and huffs angrily before tossing it back to Ash. It bounces off the seat next to him and lands docile on the floor.

"If we weren't ten thousand feet up I would go back there and beat the shit out of you." Ace calls back with a laugh.

"I'd like to see you try. You barely weigh two hundred pounds."

Ace flips him off from the pilot seat, drawing a snicker from Ash as he cracks open one of the books. Maybe being a slow reader would come in handy for once. He starts reading, managing to keep a decent amount of focus for at least four pages before his mind starts to drift. Fiction is so hard to read, but he wouldn't be finding any textbooks to read from any time soon. All he had was this book on androids, and not even cool androids they were animals androids. He shifts in his seat and sighs.

"Ash, where are we?"

He looks up at Scotty in the driver's seat, then back down at the map. It was familiar in the same way smells wafting in from next door are. The radio bleats out a few lines as he stares at the back of Scotty's head in shock.

"....after all the songs that we've sung together. After all the sweet and all the stormy weather. Well I haven't heard a word from you."

Linda's shoulder brushed his as they take a sharp turn on the road. Ash can't quite remember this moment. So much of this was crystal clear in his mind, but so much more had grown foggy in the twenty years of time.

"Jesus Christ, just tell us already will ya?" Scotty calls back, looking in the rearview mirror in mock annoyance. Ash gapes back at him. A few seconds pass where he would have spoke.

"Yes?"

The radio stops at the car jerks to the left. He remembers this, they almost got hit by a semi truck.

"Scotty watch out!" Shelly yells in panic. Linda and Cheryl squeal in fear next to him as the car jerks back to the right side of the road.

"What the fuck." Ash says, turning to look at the two girls next to him. Their familiar and spooked faces haven't aged a day, and his voice comes out different.

"Don't yell at me, it's your lousy steering wheel. The damn thing jerked right out of my hand." Scotty replies to a long dead man.

"Radio's dead too, Ace." Shelly adds, turning the knob uselessly.

Ash can't remember what he said after that. Didn't he get the car tuned up before they left?

"Well, then take it back 'cause the damn thing don't work. Only thing that works on the whole car is the lousy horn." Scotty mocks, honking the horn for emphasis.

He rubs his eyes, trying to wake up from this nightmare. When he opens his eyes Scotty is pointing a gun at his face. He jumps and pushes it away as Scotty laughs, turning to pick the Necronomicon up from the desk. Before he can slap the book out of his friends hands he's upstairs again, sitting cross legged in front of a reel to reel tape.

"She's acting like a baby- it's no big deal." Scotty scoffs, pressing play on the tape.

"Stop!" Ash yells uselessly as the voice of that man starts chanting. He stands and kicks the reel to reel, but the words keep echoing. No one moves, no one reacts to him.

They act out the scenes as if it were a sick joke. He can hear Cheryl begging for them to turn it off and turns to her. She was holding her ears and tears slipped from her eyes. He had almost forgotten what she looked like as a human, the monstrous Deadite filling his mind. Ash runs to her, wrapping his arms around her cold frame and squeezing as hard as he dares.

"I'm so sorry Cheryl." He whispers as the phantom yells for them to stop. He hears the voices go quiet, and Cheryl runs out of his arms as a tree crashes in from the window.

Ash sinks to his knees, and covers his eyes. He can feel the warmth of his tears on his right hand, and wishes he could just wake up from this.

"Hit her!! Hit it!!" Scotty's voice echoes in his mind, but Ash refuses to open his eyes. He refuses to watch Scotty murder Shelly again.

Instead he listens to the axe thud, remembers the violent gore and viscera. Every shriek and cry as Cheryl's body laughed and cackled. He remembers the dark look deep in Scotty's eyes as he reduced Shelly's skull to bits. Never in his life had he seen something so violent and brutal. They were nothing more than animals in a corner. The new theme for the rest of his life.

Violence and bloodshed. For twenty years.

"You're a good man." Ash says softly, breaths coming heavy from pent up sobs.

"Good?" Scotty says with a chuckle, Ash doesn't need to see the man to remember the fear etched into his face, "I'm the best!"

He can hear the cabin door close. And a small whine escapes him.

All these years he was haunted by this night. These few desperate hours and the day that followed. He didn't need to create nightmares, it was just his memories that plagued him. He listens to Scotty beg Ash not to leave him, and he forces himself to his feet. He opens his eyes and walks to the couch to sit next to Scotty's mangled body as the man talks and reacts to what should be him. Desperately he tucks himself against the mans bleeding and mangled side, watching the deadite below mock him.

"Jesus Ash. I don't want to die. So...so lonely to die like this. You're not gonna leave me are you? Are you Ash?" Scotty pleads over the Deadites mocking shrieks.

Why didn't he go with Scotty. Obviously Linda was a goner, but he didn't know it at the time. Maybe if he had gone with Scotty they could've made it out. Fought off the evil and trees and made it home somehow. Or maybe if he got Scotty to stay they could've gotten fought off the Deadites and lived until that girl got there.

Guilt rears its familiar head as the phantom of Scotty gasps shallowly, life fluttering away.

With Linda, and Shelly and Cheryl he could always say it was in defense. If he had not killed them, he would be dead. Simple as that. Hell, they were already dead anyway having been taken over by the Deadites. But Scotty...god he should've been better. Should've shown the mettle of man instead of letting his best friend die for nothing. Why did he have to be the chosen one. He was a coward from day one. He should have died in that cabin, let Scotty be the chosen one instead.

What kind of fucking chosen one was he when he never bothered getting the prophecies translated? Left nothing but bodies in his wake. Chopped up his girlfriend and sister like a monster.

He feels Scotty still under him, and pulls the body closer. Burying his head in the lifeless crook of his friends neck.

He wanted to go home.

_ "Ashy Slashy, hatchet and saw Takes your head and skins you raw Ashy Slashy, heaven and hell Cuts out your tongue so you can't yell..." _

Home was almost as bad. He just wanted to be safe.

"Ash? Ash!"

He jerks up, looking around the dark cabin in shock. His eyes drift to Ace, who was half turned in the pilot seat. The sun had set long ago, the only light was coming from the front, back lighting the man ahead. Ace smiles a comforting grin, sunglasses hooked on his shirt.

"Sorry to wake you. We're landing soon, you need to put your seat belt on."

He stands slowly. Breathing softly and evenly as the demented dredges of his dream clear away. A few breaths and sniffle and he's feeling much better as he takes a seat in the co-pilot chair.

"We there yet?"

"'Bout halfway. Need a refuel and power nap. We'll be on the ground for about two hours, then another eight in the air before touchdown." Ace replies, glancing at him curiously.

"You okay, bud? Sounded like you were having one hell of a dream."

Ash shrugs, not wanting to talk about it. Ace takes the hint and drops the subject to yawn.

"Don't let me sleep too long when we land."

"No promises."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ace is a James bond characrer and can do anything. Also i love Scotty.


	10. Kickstart My Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor Is In.

Ash lets Ace sleep for three hours. The touched down at a weird airfield in the middle of fuck all nowhere. The facility looked like it had been barely standing in the 80s and only upright by some force of god or the devil. The field was a few hours out from Tarapota and honestly really beautiful. Maybe he and Ace could just fly around South America like two washed up rich people after this. He turns the page of the book, trying to bring his mind back to the plot. It wasn't that bad, honestly. Deckard was a fun guy, he could almost relate to the plight he was facing. Although he never felt remorse for killing Deadites, well maybe a little when they played human bit only then.

"How's the book?" Ace asks, blissfully distracting him from the chore of reading.

"It's alright. Would make a good movie."

"It is a movie."

"What? Really?"

Ace nods, "It's called Bladerunner. Pretty good, but I like the book better."

Ash dog ears the page, knowing he would probably never actually finish the book and tosses it to the back of the plane.

"If I read any more my brain is going to melt."

"Don't like the classics?"

"I almost dropped out of Uni because of my English grades, I  _ hate _ the classics."

Ace lets out a hum of interest, tilting the steering column a bit and shifting in his seat. Ash checks his watch, happy to see that it was completely off and he had no idea what time it was.

"You went to college?" Ace asks, somehow not sounding skeptical.

"Yeah, for a few semesters. Almost got my bachelors in mechanical and chemical engineering since I was double majoring. But once you butcher your friends and family in a woods most colleges don't want you."

Ace lets out an impressed whistle, "Shit man, that's impressive."

Ash shrugs. He never actually finished any of that schooling, all he had to show for it was thirty years at fucking S-Mart Inc. Although he will say the deathmobile he made in the middle ages was pretty fucking cool, even if no one saw it.

"Not really. You go to college?"

"I dropped out at ES."

"ES?"

Ace glances at him and scratches his chin, "What do Americans call it again...Highschool? Yeah I dropped out when I was sixteen because I was a shit head."

Ash snickers at that, "You would've hated me if we knew each other then."

"I have a thing for overconfident dumbasses."

"A was a pussy as a teen, Lucky Strike."

"Really?"

"My own little sister bullied me!"

Ace laughs at that and shakes his head, "Y'know what? I can actually see that. Did she call you mean names?"

"She just called me Ashly all the time, it's my naje yeah but it wouldn't kill her to say Ash. Her friends would come over and ask where her sister was!"

He watches Ace descend into cackles at that one. Vaguely he can hear a voice from the headset, and Ace clears his throat in an attempt to collect himself.

"It's just me buddy." Ace says into the headset with a small smile. Ash raises his eyebrows, and puts the one around his neck.

"Visconti! Ojomo said you wouldn't be here until three zulu." A man's staticy voice says over the radio. He can practically hear the smile through the cords.

"Wanted to catch you while you were down here." Ace replies, "We cleared for landing?"

There's a few beats of silence and Ash looks out the window, attempting to find the runway in the dim light of pre dawn. He can vaguely see a few lights turn on in the distance.

"You're clear. See you soon!" The man says with a strange little giggle before the radio goes silent.

"That your, uh, Friend?"

"Sure is." Ace replies, focusing intently on flipping dials and slowing down, "Buckle in, might be a bumpy landing."

Ash does as he's told, sitting up in excitement at the prospect of finally getting out of the sky.

"Should I...know anything before we meet?"

Ace shrugs nonchalant, "Carter is...a weird guy. Actually he's a fucking freak, but he's saved my life more than I can count. Just...don't let him catch you alone. He has this weird way of getting in your head, talks smoother than me. Oh and his laugh is annoying."

It was hard to imagine anyone who talked smoother than Ace did. In the short time they were on the road Ace talked his way in and out of more situations than Ash could count.

"How annoying?"

"...You'll see." Is Ace's cryptic reply.

Ash shrugs and sits back. Doing absolutely nothing to help Ace land the plane. Maybe if he asked nicely he could get some fun flying lessons. The plane rolls to a stop with a few bumps. Ace looks over the dash and nods to himself before getting to his feet with a grunt. Ash can hear quite a few joints pop as Ace stretches and steps into the hub of the plane. He follows as Ace pops his back and approaches the door, opening it up and letting in the warm air.

A small and beautiful smile graces the man's lips as he walks down the steps and onto the runway. Ash walks down the steps onto the tarmac as a warm breeze blows past, bringing the smell of electricity. He watches Ace stand unmoving for a few minutes, watching the sun brightens the sky slowly. The man had a distant look in his eyes, and Ash wonders what could be clawing through the calm waters of his mind.

Ace turns suddenly and unlocks the storage of the plane, tossing Ash his duffle bag and pulling out his suitcase.

"Don't wanna keep Doc waitin'." Ace says, voice coming out notably thick with remorse. It had been ten years since the man was in his home country. This was a big moment for him.

He slings the bag over his shoulder and follows Ace to a sturdy looking concrete bunker of a building. There was a large radio tower off to the side and what looked like a helicopter pad on the roof. Ash could make out quite a few trucks parked at a secondary building, and most notably the entire airfield was surrounded by a tall fence, topped with barbed wire.

"Ace, the fuck is this?"

"Project Awakening." Ace replies, "Some pet project Carter has set up down here. He's some high level doctor guy in the CIA, they essentially gave him these acres and said do whatever. He's only around a few months of the year and act as a doctor for the big gangs down here."

Now that Ace mentioned it he did see a big ass cross on the side of the building they were approaching.

"So he's like...on their side?"

Ace shrugs, "He's kinda like Switzerland. Saves a lot of people, and he is in the CIA so most small timers don't fuck with him. Not that they could."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

As if on cue the big metal doors creek open, and the tallest man Ash has ever fucking seen steps out. The man was in a doctor's coat with the sleeves cut off, revealing bulging biceps that put body builders to shame. His teeth were stark white against his black skin, and the manic grin on his face was utterly unsettling. His appearance wasn't helped by round coke bottle glasses that seemed to magnify his icy blue eyes.

"Visconti! You haven't aged a day!" Herman says as they approach. He walks forward and happily shakes Ace's hand.

"I can say the same for you!" Ace grins up at the man, looking comically small next to the proverbial giant.

Herman's glasses turn to him, flashing in the light of the sun as he fixes him with an intense stare that made his skin crawl. Ash had always been pretty tall for his age, a proud six foot one, but Herman towered over him. While the man didn't carry himself in a way that suggested any malice yet, there was a certain overwhelming presence about him the set Ash's teeth on edge.

"And you are?"

"Ash Williams, with him." Ash says, pointing to Ace and not elaborating further. Herman holds his left hand out for a shake.

"Herman Carter. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He takes his hand and immediately feels an electric jolt. Judging by the way the man grins it was somehow intentional.

"Right this way, friends. I'm sure your both tired and jet lagged." Herman says, pulling away and shooing them into the dark holds of his concrete bunker.

Ash really didn't like having the man behind him. Made his skin crawl as they were led through the twisting and dimly lit halls. Ace made light conversation with Herman, asking about people and places. The things old people talk about. Ash didn't mind listening to it however, since it was making Ace laugh. Eventually Herman stops them at a long hallway and points down it.

"I don't have any patients right now so all the rooms are open to use. The kitchen is only a short walk away. I want both of you to rest up for a day before we talk about the fun stuff." Herman smiles at them expectantly.

"...Thanks." Ash says awkwardly. This pulls a short giggle from the man, as if he made a joke.

"Thank god. I'm about to drop dead. See you in a few, bud." Ace says, immediately walking down the hall. Ash follows quickly, trying not to look back at Herman who was most definitely staring at him.

"Wanna share a room?" Ash asks with a wink. He really didn't want to be alone with Doc roaming the halls.

Ace laughs, and opens the door to room number seven, "Only one bed, Ashy."

"Hasn't stopped us yet."

"Got me there."

Ace enters the room and drops his suitcase near the double bed in the corner. That was actually going to be a bit of a squeeze. He was still shaking off the dredges of his nightmare and really wouldn't mind a bit of cuddling. He drops his duffle bag next to Ace's suitcase, he can hear his shotgun, ammo, and chainsaw clatter around in the confines of his bag.

"Ashy?"

He looks over to see Ace leaning against a doorway to another part of the room he hadn't noticed yet. His lips were quirked up in his trademark crooked smile that never failed to make Ash feel a little twist in his stomach. 

"What's up?"

"Wanna join me?" Ace's says, dropping his voice to a loving purr. Fuck, how could Ash resist now?

"If you insist." Ash replies, standing and following Ace into the small en suite bathroom.

Ace tosses his jacket into the main room and starts unbuttoning his shirt, then jeans. Ash looks away and starts undressing himself. He takes his fake hand off and sets it in the sink after unbuckling his pants and undoing all his buttons. Y'know, the dexterous stuff. He listenes to the water start and Ace interrupt the water flow. The bathroom was small and minimal, just a shower in the corner with no curtain, a sink with a toilet, and barely a lip to signify the tub. At least the drain still had a shiny grate covering at least.

"Just so you know, water doesn't get hot. Only lukewarm at best."

Ash rolls his eyes and steps into the small shower with Ace, wetting his hair and running his good hand through it. The man had miraculously produced pink bottles of shampoo and conditioner. He was surprised Ace even washed his hair.

"Lean down a bit." Ace says, squeezing a bit of shampoo into his hands before lathering it into Ash's hair.

He closes his eyes as the mans deft fingers run through his hair. Truth be told he was never able to get a good wash on his hair since he lost his hand. It's always when you lose something you learn how much you need it, huh?

"You have thick hair." Ace says, fingers gently trailing down the back of his head and over his shoulders, "Really pretty."

"Pretty?" Ash asks, dunking his head under the shower stream as Ace helps rinse out the shampoo.

"What? Don't like it?" Ace shoots back, pulling away to get conditioner and begin slathering that over Ash's hair.

"No, no I just...never been called pretty before. Ain't that for girls?"

"Jesus, Ashy just take the fucking compliment." Ace replies with a laugh, gently tugging at Ash's hair for emphasis.

"Fine, thank you Ace. Your hair looks pretty too."

The man looks up and bats his eyelashes at Ash.

"Really?" Ace coos, pressing into Ash's chest. Hands gently pulling his head down and pressing their foreheads together.

Ash feels his mouth go dry out of sheer nervousness, but pushes through the feeling to rest his left hand on Ace's hip and pull him closer. Slowly their lips meet again. He can feel Ace tighten his grip in his hair and tilts his head, gently flicking his tongue over Ash's lips. He moves slowly, running his good hand over Ace's body, pressing eagerly into the kiss.

This was nice. This was real fucking nice. Usually he didn't go slow when picking up floozys at bars, not that they wanted to go slow either. Ace pulls back ever so slightly, breaths ghosting against his wet lips as they catch their breath. Ash takes in the flushed look on Ace's cheeks and his wet bangs plastered against his face. There was a small splash of freckles around the bridge of the man's nose, along the tanlined of his sunglasses. It takes his breath away.

"Waters gettin' cold." Ace says, breaking the silence between them.

"I can warm you up." Ash replies, almost without thinking. All this kissing was getting to his dick.

A grin spreads on Ace's face, and he reaches behind him to turn the water off. Thankfully most of the condition had rinsed out of his hair. Wordlessly Ace wraps his arms around Ash's neck to pull him back down, pressing their lips together with much more intensity than before. Ace gently nips his lip and Ash lets out a small groan at the sensation. He can feel Ace smile against his lips as the man takes a step back. He feels Ace wobble before falling back with a yelp. Ash barely manages to wrap an arm around him before his head bangs into the faucet, nearly losing balance on the wet floor.

"Oh fuck." Ace gasps, finding his balance quickly and standing up, "Nice catch."

Ash smiles, pulling Ace in by the waist and pressing a few kisses to his neck, "Gimme some sugar, baby."

He hears a soft laugh, and feels Ace's fingers trail down his chest, stopping just above his hips. The blunt fingernails gently running over his damp skin.

"How far do you wanna go, Ashy? Busy day tomorrow. Both of us need to walk."

Good point. Ash wasn't really planning on...doing any of that. At least not yet. This gay stuff was new to him after all. Ash gently nips Ace's neck, drawing a soft groan from him.

"Handjob?"

"Love the way you think Ashy." Ace says, gently tugging on Ash's hips, "Sit down for me. Don't mind dyin' naked in a tub from a cracked skull, but I don't want Doc to find me like that."

Ash does as he's told, since he was not okay with dying naked in a tub with blue balls. Ace sinks down, straddling his waist. He glances down to get a look at Ace's dick for the first time. Well damn, looked exactly as he expected it to. His train of thought is quickly derailed when Ace takes his quarter chub and presses it against his own cock. He can hear a soft sigh of pleasure from Ace as the man shifts in his lap to move closer. Ash holds in a groan as Ace's hand starts slowly pumping both their cocks. For lack of anything better to do Ash rests his good hand on the man's hip, causing the man to buck forward and moan. It's a pretty fucking hot sound.

"Give me a hand?" Ace says through pants.

"Not funny."

Ace rolls his eyes and uses his free hand to grab Ash's right hand and place it on the other side of the one jacking their cocks. His fingers brush against Ace's wrist and he looks down at their hands, noticing the wedding ring still on Ace's finger.

He knows damn well it's not his, but it still brings an unfamiliar rush of elation and fear to his heart. Ash had always been afraid of commitment, that was obvious to anyone that ever knew him. He avoided getting close, avoided caring. But fuck, if spilling your heart out to a man, shouldering his demons, and flying all the way to fucking Argentina to risk his life wasn't commitment masked as running then-

"Ash, stop it."

He looks up at Ace, the flush on his cheeks was a bright pink.

"Wha?" Ash replies, holding in a moan as Ace twists his hand.

"Stop thinking, just enjoy yourself okay." Ace coos, leaning in to nuzzle Ash's neck and press a few kisses to the tender skin, "I got you."

The words are surprisingly relaxing. He nods and lets out a breath, pumping his hand in time with Ace's as their lips meet again. He let's Ace take the lead, setting a slow steady pace with their hands and a faster much heavier makeout session. Slowly he rolls his hips up, pulling a moan from Ace thats like music to his ears. He wasn't used to slow and sensual, although he could get used to it. Listening to Ace's small muffled gasps and whimpers slowly increase in intensity with his own was worth a little delayed gratification. Ace runs his thumb over the head of Ash's cock, and he moans. Feeling release just around the corner. It had been a while since he had any privacy.

"You close?" Ace says, pulling back slightly.

"Kinda. You?"

"Kinda."

Ash snorts and shoos Ace's hand away, dropping his own to grip Ace's better. As much as he liked this double dick stuff this was faster. Ace takes the hint and grabs Ash's cock in a firm grip.

"Next time we can do more." Ace coos, still moving his hand painfully slow as he leans in to nip Ash's neck, "I'll ride your cock all night, Ashy."

Fuck, that was really hot. He holds in a moan, hoping Ace doesn't notice the stutter in his movements. Judging by the small laugh he did.

"I'll be gentle for your first time."

Ash lets out a slow moan, and bucks into Ace's hand. Twisting his own and rubbing a thumb against the head of Ace's dick.

"Don't flatter yourself." Ash says, managing to not sound as flustered as he felt, "Won't be my first time taking it."

"I'll make it the best." Ace all but growls, free hand tangling in Ash's hair and roughly yanking it back before sucking at his exposed neck. The spike of pain pulls a loud moan from Ash, and he can't hold back any more.

He strokes Ace's dick faster as he cums with a groan. He can hear Ace let out an equally loud moan and roll his hips forward before hot cum splashes over his arm. He relaxes against the wall, panting softly as Ace pulls back and brings a dripping hand up. He watches in vague amusement as Ace licks a few drops of cum from his hand.

"That's gross."

Ace raises his middle finger, and Ash grabs the hand. He brings it to his mouth and runs his tongue up the digit, watching Ace's poker face waver ever so slightly as he laps up his own cum.

"That's pretty gross, Ashy."

He shrugs, and Ace gets to his feet to turn the shower on and wash the cum off his hand. Ash stands and does the same. Feeling oddly satisfied despite the tameness of the session. Usually he couldn't get his rocks off unless they were doing something really freaky.

"I'm gonna sleep for a bit. You don't gotta join me, Don't imagine you're that tired." Ace says, pulling on a pair of shorts and flopping into bed shirtless, "Feel free to wander around. Carter won't bite."

He seriously doubted the authenticity of Ace's claims. Herman looked like he was waiting for an opportunity to not only to bite him but also do some horrendous and medically disgusting things his head. Then again he really wasn't that tired...and kind of hungry. He pulls his shorts, boots, and shirt on before tucking the Kandarian dagger into his belt. He hoped that Doc had decent food here.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote that porn at work so i got paid for double d handies


	11. Hells Bells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of posting this chapter, its my birthday! So you get a present too!!

Ash carefully spreads peanut butter over the bread with the Kandarian dagger, reaching the desired level of nuttiness before setting the dagger on the edge of the sink. Just in case he wanted another one. He takes a bite of the sandwich and savors the simple yet delicious mixture of peanuts and grape jelly.

The kitchen wasn't stocked with snacks, mostly non perishable canned foods, boxed meals, and single loaf of bread. Not that he expected anything else really, this was a questionably legal hospital. Ash finishes the last bite of his sandwich and starts on making another. This time rinsing the dagger off and tucking it into the waistband of his shorts. Distantly he hears a door close, and footsteps walking down the hall. Judging by the sound of the gait it was Herman. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation they were about to have. The man peeks around the corner, broad grin on his face as he sets eyes on Ash.

"Hello Mr. Williams!"

"Ash is fine." He says through a mouthful of sandwich.

The man approaches slowly, lab coat swishing as he stops across from Ash. They regard each other silently for a few moments. Friend's of friend's when the mutual isn't in the room. Ash was a pretty average height, taller than most but not unused to meeting people a few inches taller than him. But Herman was different, the guy practically towered over him by at least a head or two. Hell, Ace barely came up to the fuckers shoulders.

"Enjoying your stay?"

"Sure." Ash replies, slowly biting into his sandwich.

The smile remains on the mans face, bright white teeth bared at him like a beast as his blue eyes bore into Ash's soul.

"May I ask you a few personal questions, Ash?"

He shrugs, "Shoot."

"So do you remember chopping your friends up in the cabin, or did you enter a fugue state of sorts?"

Ash stares at Herman in surprise. How the fuck was he supposed to, no wait. How the fuck did this guy know about that? The Cabin Murders weren't exactly a secret, but how did this freak know about them?

"I knew exactly what I chopped them up in that cabin. And how do you know about that!" Ash replies, trying to keep his cool by eating more of his sandwich.

"Oh, I studied in Illinois. Very close to the University of Michigan. Of course I wasn't in schooling when the...event happened. But my roommate in college write her thesis on you."

Ash narrows his eyes, having finished his sandwich he crosses his arms and leans against the counter. He never talked to any press if he could avoid it. The trial was already a shit show, he got off on an insanity plea after 2 hung jury's for three counts of murder and a media mess. Then being ostracized by the town and hounded by journalist. He still got letters and calls from podcaster and documentations regularly, all of which he ignored.

"Sorry to pry, you're a very interesting topic of debate among many psychology and medical students."

"Am I." Ash deadpans. Doc's face lights up.

"Oh yes! A young man who violently murdered two of his friends and his sister before cutting his own hand off and replacing it with a chainsaw, that's  _ incredibly _ interesting, Ash."

Y'know, when he puts it that way he could imagine the annoying and long winded debates on just what happened in that cabin. The truth was almost as annoying and long winded. He stares at Herman wordlessly.

"Did I touch a nerve?"

"Not really." Ash replies with a shrug. He was kinda desensitized to the cabin shit. Doc was just being real rude.

"Oh, good!"

He rolls his eyes, "Hey Doc, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course!"

Shit, he didn't expect the guy to agree to that. He didn't exactly want to learn anything about this guy since he was a fucking freak. Then again he could learn more about Ace this way.

"So, uh, how did you and Ace...meet?"

Doc's smile shifts into a slightly cockier smirk somehow, "Oh we go way back! I've worked in this area on and off for...oh at least twenty years or so. Medical bases don't build their selves!"

Ash nods, he figured the two went pretty far back.

"Oh but I met Ace on the operating table. He was caught in some sort of shoot out. Wrong place, wrong time. I was pulling a bullet out of his side, minimal aesthetic due to shortages and what not. He was a real trooper, made the most interesting small talk." Doc explains, obviously happy to reminisce over a fond memory. Ash couldn't help but laugh, that sounded like Ace.

"He doesn't change does he?"

Herman's ever present smile drops slightly, and he pointedly looks over to the rooms where the man was currently sleeping.

"...You would be surprised," Doc says in a soft thoughtful tone, "Has he told you?"

"About his kids?"

Doc nods sadly, "Very unfortunate. I haven't seen him much since then. Only in the states as he passes through on his normal runs."

That was...interesting to learn. Although he couldn't say it was a surprise. Ace was no doubt carrying more baggage than he let on.

"What...was he like?" Ash asks, figuring since Ace lived this long he might as well learn more about him.

"Oh more easy going, if you could imagine. More confident, risk taking."

"Sounds like how he normally is."

Doc tilts his head, and Ash notices that Doc doesn't blink nearly as much as he should. Or maybe he was just imagining it.

"You bring out his old self. I imagine it's because you remind him of his late fiancè."

"He mentioned that- wait you knew her?"

Doc shrugs, "Of course. I was there when she had her kids."

That was weird. That was really weird. Picturing this wall of a man near a child was unsettling, let alone newborns.

"Did you...deliver them?"

Doc tilts his head, looking at Ash in bemusement, "I'm a neurosurgeon, Ash not an obstetrician."

"A what?"

"Obgyn."

Ash stares at him, trying to think of what those big words mean.

"I don't deliver children. I was just there at the time. I'm sure Ashlie wouldn't have-"

"Wait hold on, who?"

Doc looks at him with a borderline sadistic glint in his eyes, "Oh Ace's wife was also named Ashlie. I believe she spelled it different however."

He doesn't know what to think of that.

"Ironic, huh?" Doc says with monstrous giggle, "You act nothing like her, though."

Ash decides he doesn't want to talk to Herman anymore. He was pretty dumb, but he could tell that the man was trying to get under his skin under a guise false politness and getting to know him. Ash pushes off the counter and heads towards the door, giving Doc a decent breadth. He wasn't jealous over a dead woman, it was incredibly fucked up to even think the thoughts he was currently thinking.

"Ash."

He stops at the door, looking back at Herman curiously.

"She's still alive."

A flood of emotions hit him, all of them disjointed and horrifying. The doctor's eyes stay glued on him, soaking in every but of information his face betrays.

"Shit Doc, where the fuck is she we gotta go-"

"She's not exactly thriving, Ash. Those men murdered two ten year old children to make a point to Ace. Can you even begin to imagine what they have done to that women?"

The world was well and truly and evil place. It churned Ash's stomach just thinking about it.

"I know you don't think the most of me, considering I am helping Ace kill people, but make no mistake Ashley. I hate mindless violence." Herman says softly, the fluorescent lights above him flicker. Momentarily casting him in a brutal silhouette.

"Ace has reason for wanting to take his revenge on those men, and so do I. The violence we plan isn't mindless. What I want to know from you is this." Herman says, walking around the counter and approaching Ash. He leans down to be eye level with him, soulless blue eyes seeming to glow against his skin.

"Do you have a reason for butchering your friends in that cabin?"

Of course he did, but the problem was no one ever believed him. He was nothing but a mindless psychopath to so many, a dumb screwhead. Herman wasn't the type to buy his Deadite story, he wasn't superstitious.

"It was them or me."

The fluorescent lights flicker again, and Ash swears he can see...something dark in those eyes that twists his stomach and makes static run through his phantom hand.

"Interesting." Is all Doc breaths out in response. Standing to his full height and brushing past Ash to walk to the hall. Distantly he can hear the man laughing to himself.

Ash wastes no time getting back to the room, gently closing the door so as not to bother Ace snoring away. He looks at Ace's relaxed face, admiring how his mostly dry salt and pepper hair curled up at the tips and framed his face. His eyes drift over to the ring on his finger, and he feels a stab of guilt.

Does he tell Ace about her? That's what a good person would do, right? Let Ace make his own decision about that. Sure it had been ten years at the hands of monsters, but that's all the more reason to tell him. Ash carefully sits on the edge of the bed, staring at the concrete floor.

Evil always has a way of finding him. Maybe because there was something in him that rotted that day back then. Something in him became evil and dead, and all it does is being more evil and dead to him.

That Deadite, back in Louisiana said that right? No one was sending evil after him because the whole time he had been inviting it to him. Because he didn't want the trip to end, he didn't want Ace to leave him and lose the book. And in doing so he killed at least five people.

What was one more?

Just this once, he wouldn't fight the good fight. He wouldn't just cut a corner, he'd knock out the whole fucking wall.

Ash carefully lays next to Ace. The man stirs slightly to give him room and all but climb onto his chest, nuzzling into his neck.

\---

"....-then I'll cut the power after oh say five minutes with the patient? The back up generators will kick on after two minutes, and be on for half an hour. Think you can do what you need to do in that time?" Doc says, pointing to the rough drawing on the whiteboards ahead.

Ash rocks further back in his chair, having immediately spaced out when Herman started talking. It was like being in French class all over again. In one ear, out the other without anything sticking around. He glances at Ace to see him nodding with interest, that was a good sign.

"What'll you be doin' in there, Carter?"

"Oh, I have my own vendettas to settle." The man replies with a giggle and handwave, "Ash, anything to add?"

Man, he really was just like a schoolteacher. Ash shrugs, sitting up and letting the chair fall to the floor with a crack.

"Nope. Pretty sound plan you got with the uh..." He squints at the board, "Sneaking us in."

Herman's placid smile glares back at him. Silently asking him why Ace wasn't going on about his thought to be dead fiancé.

"Speaking of, how do you know you'll be getting a call from them now?"

The man's gaze drifts back to Ace and softens. It makes Ash roll his eyes.

"When I heard you we're coming I prepared a vi- patient. These men have been getting on my nerves recently, so I've been eager for an opportunity to educate them."

Ash raises his eyebrows at that.

"What have they been doin'?"

"Making  _ me _ drive out to their base for operations. I run a tight ship and being away from my facility encourages relapse in patients. If they need medical attention they come to me!" Herman replies, voice thick with annoyance and resentment. He catches Ace hiding a snicker behind his hand.

"Ah....of course." Ash says, trying to hold in a snort.

"I'm a neurosurgeon! Not an EMT! I swear these people." The man continues, shaking his head and clicking his tongue, "Anyway, we should get going. The body will be found in a few minutes and they'll call me. We have to drive, but I can make it in at least an hour and a half."

"Uh huh."

"Take these." Herman says, voice changing from annoyance to all business as he pulls out two duffel bags with crosses on them.

"Visconti you know where the armory is, help yourself. But do return anything you take. They won't check the bags, never do!"

With that Herman leaves the makeshift classroom, off to god knows where. Ash grabs one of the bags and examines it. He could fit his saw in for sure but not his boomstick. What was he without both.

"You can use mine." Ace says, no doubt seeing the worry appear on Ash's face, "I only need one gun."

"Aww really? You're so sweet." Ash replies, scooping up the second duffel bag and gesturing towards the door, "Lead the way."

The armory was very weird. Just like everything else in this building. Hell, the fact that a "hospital" even had an armory was fucked up. Ash stares at a collection of bats next to what looks like some sort of steel pipe wrapped in barbed wire.

"What kinda treatment is this for?" Ash says, gesturing at the apparatus.

"A permanent one, I guess." Ace replies, grabbing a box of bullets, "Catch."

He catches the box, noticing that its the right caliber for his shotgun. He can't help but smile at the act.

"I call shotgun, though."

\---

Ash wished he called shotgun. The truck hit a pothole and he groans as his sore ass hits the truck bed again. The shitty scrubs he was wearing as a disguise added no additional padding to his khakis. He starts to consider if riding bitch next to Doc was really that bad. The guy seemed almost gleeful to have him jump in the back and suffer the bumpiest fucking ride. He hears a tap on the window, and reaches back to open it.

"How you doin' back there, Sally?" Ace teases. Ash can feel the air conditioning blow out of the window and desperately wishes he was in there, doctor be fucked.

"Oh, I'm fucking fantastic." Ash replies, bouncing at another hefty bump.

"We're about five minutes out." Ace reassures, reaching out to pat his shoulder.

"I can't wait."

Ace laughs and Ash turns to see him pull the shitty face mask he was forced to wear up. He doubted these disguises would work at all, but then again these people trusted Doc to fix them up.

The truck pulls up to a big concrete building, and few guys walk out. He sits as casually as he can in the back as Doc waves at them and they drive through the mini stop. Going over one more fucking speedbump. They pull into a shed, and the truck dies. The doors open and Ash jumps out with a sigh. That fucking sucked.

"Follow me, don't say anything, and act natural." Doc says, hefting his personal bag over his shoulder.

Ash grabs the one with the saw, and Ace takes the one with the shotgun. The loose bullets rub together ominously, like hells bells.

"Let's go." Ace says, eyes shining with determination.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doc is a fucked up man and not a nice person. He does like ace tho


	12. Enter Sandman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *ace voice* why are we still here? Just to suffere
> 
> Theres a lot goin on here
> 
> Enjoy

Herman waves to the men at the door, and they say something to him in Spanish. Ace busies himself with looking at a clipboard as they pass by the guards. One of the men leads them down a few hallways before stopping at a door and saying something in Spanish. Herman thanks him and quickly shoos Ace and him inside. Closing the door and holding a hand up for a few seconds.

Ash wonders over to the figure on an operating table. He was hooked up to a plethora of machinery with the steady beep of a heartbeat monitor to keep him company. His face was covered in raw blisters and electrical burns that extended all the way down his neck. It was like looking at  man-shaped hamburger meat. Ash had seen a lot of gore and death in his life, but the fact that this man was still alive made his stomach churn.

"Alright, coast is clear." Herman says, stepping away from the door with a nod.

Ace immediately starts stripping off the scrubs, pulling on his hat and tucking his sunglasses into the neck of his shirt. Ash does the same, tossing the blue fabric off to the side and opening the duffle bag with his saw and holster. He pulls on the holster before attaching the to his hand and makes sure it was still full of gas. He feels Ace slide his shotgun into the holster and grins at him, shoving a few spare shells into his pockets.

"So, what's the plan again?" Ash asks, standing up straight as Ace loops one of the bags over his shoulder.

"Pay attention in class next time." Doc replies, looking over the patient with interest.

"Jesus christ, what happened to this guy?" Ace says, joining Doc at the bedside.

"Treatment."

Ash shudders at the thought. Ace looks incredibly nonplussed at the news. Doc turns away and drops his own bag with a heavy thud. He kneels down and pulls out a leather belt with four honest to god car batteries hanging off it. Doc puts the belt on, and pulls one of his fucked up sticks from the bag as well, attaching it to the belt as well.

"What the fuck is that?" Ash asks, unable to keep his mouth shut at the sight before him.

Herman attaches a pair of jumper cables to one of the batteries, along with a wire for the stick.

"This," Doc says, pointing at the stick, "Is a picana. Think of it as a cattle prod for humans."

He giggles then pulls out a remote from his bag.

"This will knock out the power. Back up gennys will kick on in two minutes. Ace you know where to go."

And with that Herman hits the button and the room goes black. Dead silence falls between the four until a dim red light flicks. The heartbeat monitor flatline interrupts them, and he watches Herman raise the jumper cables and press them together.

A shower of sparks rain down, lighting up the man's glasses as if his eyes were glowing. Doctor giggles, but the sound feels more like a death threat.

"Don't let the sun fall down on you here." Herman says softly before turning and walking out the door. Batteries and stick clacking together loudly.

Ash looks at Ace, and the man shrugs almost apologetically. He decides he doesn't want a single explanation for Doc, and can happily go his entire life without seeing him ever a-fucking-gain. Ace motions for him to follow and steps out, letting the door close on the corpse in the room. The turn left, leaving the sounds of screams and electricity far behind as Ace hurries down the halls.

"Know where you're going?" Ash asks.

"Yeah."

They walk down a few halls and up some stairs until Ace pauses at a door. He gently rests his hand on the wood, and Ash can see him shaking. Ace pulls out his revolver, and nods at Ash. He gets his chainsaw, and grabs the power cord with a nod.

Ace kicks the door open and starts yelling in Spanish over the revving of Ash's chainsaw. They barge in on three men who immediately go for their guns, but pause at the sight of Ash three feet away with a revving saw. He kicks the door closed as Ace starts talking, gesturing towards him and saying Ashy Slashy. Slowly the three men raise their hands and back up against the wall.

"Cut the saw."

Ash does as he's told, moving to block the door as he draws his shotgun. The men eye it wearily.

"These the guys?"

"The ones and only." Ace replies, his voice cold and filled with anger. Ash looks at the men, and wonders how pure evil could be condensed into three manlets who look so normal.

"Do what you gotta, Ace."

A look of panic appears on the man's face as their eyes dart to Ace and Ash. He levels the shotgun at them menacingly.

"I intend to."

Ace looks at the three men for a few minutes, red lights casting his face into a particular darkness. He spins the revolver loosely and brings it up, opening the barrel and taking out one bullet before pointing at the man in the middle. He barks an order im Spanish, and the man's eyes dart between the two of his friends. A smug grin appears on his face.

"Him." The man says, pointing at Ash.

Ace closes the barrel, spins it and points it at him without a moment of hesitation. He pulls the trigger.

_ Click. _

"Good call." Ace says pointing the gun at the man and splattering his brains onto the back wall in one shot.

"You. Pick." Ace says, turning the gun over to the man on the left. The man stiffens, then points to his partner.

Ace spins the barrel and fires, blowing the one on the right head to an equally gorey mash.

"Pick."

The man looks Ace dead in the eye and says a few things in Spanish.

He watches Ace spin the barrel and point the gun to his head. Worry courses through him as Ace pulls the trigger.

_ Click. _

_ Click. _

_ Click. _

The mans face falls, and a grin appears on Ace's. He opens the barrel and loads in three bullets. Clicking it closed and walking up to the man. Ash can hear him whisper something the man before putting the gun to his temple and firing.

Blood splatters over the red wall and Ace as the body falls to the floor. Ace points the gun and fires at the body over and over again. Five shots ring out as the mess of brains and blood twitches.

_ Click. _

_ Click. _

Ash slowly steps forward, putting his gun into the holster as he steps through the pools of blood to stand next to Ace.

_ Click. _

_ Click. _

_ Click. _

He slowly takes the gun from Ace's shaking hand. Watching the tears run down his face, mingling with the blood and glistening in the red light.

"Ace, baby it's okay." Ash whispers, setting the gun on the desk and pulling Ace into a hug.

The man wraps his arms around him desperately, fingers gripping his shirt. He can feel Ace let out a few trembling breaths, and rubs his back with his good hand. Chainsaw awkwardly hanging at his side.

"I miss my fucking kids." Ace says with a bitter laugh, pulling away and looking up at Ash with a forced grin, "But that felt pretty damn good."

"Hey about that," Ash says, pulling away from Ace as starting towards the door, "How'd you know you wouldn't shoot me there."

Ace shrugs, picking his gun up from the table and following Ash out of the room.

"Eh, I figured we would get lucky."

"What If you shot me?" Ash prods, starting to get a bit angry.

"Oops?" Ace smiles at him, and Ash can't even bring himself to stay mad.

"Well, let's get the fuck out off here. I don't wanna run into Doc roaming these halls.

"Me neither. Guy can get a bit...into it."

"It as in violent torture?"

"Well if you put it like that." Ace says with a shrug, pulling out a walkie talkie from his jacket pocket.

"Hey why didn't I get one of those!"

"Carter said you would be insufferable."

Ash huffs, knowing he damn well would be the most obnoxious prick with one of those.

"Carter, location?" Ace asks over the walking. He's met with a burst of static before Doc's gleeful voice replies.

"Oh don't come looking for me!" The man practically oozes with laughter, "I'll meet you at Awakening."

Ace shrugs and shoves the walking back in his pocket, gesturing for Ash to follow.

"You heard the man, lets bounce."

They walk down the eerie twisting halls towards the garage, no sound of electricity or clacking batteries of the Doctor. He looks at the back of Ace's head and wonders how to breach a delicate subject.

"What did they, uh say back there?" He asks as casually as he can.

"Nothin' of value."

Great, an excellent start. Ash clears his throat and tries again.

"Are there uh, anymore guys we need to...find?"

Ace shrugs, "I'm sure someone else ordered the hit, but those three were the guys that did the deed. Know 'em anywhere. As far as I'm concerned we're done here. Carter can take care of the rest."

Sicking the Doctor on these guys seemed like a fate worse than death. But hey it was what they deserved so might as well dip. Ace opens the door to the garage, walking past Doctor's truck to examine the other vehicles available. Mostly just covered jeeps and off road trucks.

"Oh fuck yeah." Ace breaths, pulling a cloth off a vehicle to reveal a motorcycle and caddy attached.

"I'm driving!" Ash says, marching forward quickly.

"Like hell you are, get in the caddy." Ace orders, putting his sunglasses on and attempting to get on the bike.

"No fuck you I wont fit in the caddy! I'm dri-"

A loud screech and banging sounds as the door to the garage explodes inward. Ash turns to see the remains of the man on the operating table with milky white eyes and cloud of evil about him. It had been a while since he was petered by Deadites.

It was also buck naked and hung like a horse.

"Ash get in the caddy." Ace orders again, almost smugly.

"No you get in the fucking-"

"You have no hand!! You can't control the gas!" Ace yells, unfortunately making a good point as he straddles the bike and revs the engine.

Ash opens his duffel bag only to find it empty. Fuck he must've grabbed Ace's back in the O.R instead of his.

He was getting real sick of riding bitch all the time.

Ash jumps in the caddy, sitting on the back lip and bracing his feet on the front as he revved the chainsaw up. The Deadite growls at him, having been joined by two more with mutilated and burned heads. Must be Doc's work. He pulls out the shotgun and manages to reduce at least one of the sideshows heads to bits before Ace pulls out. Leaving only two freaks to knock out.

"I'll swallow your soul!!" The Deadites croon.

The O.R Deadite with the huge cock moves to block the garage exit. It was dusk when they pulled in, and the stars outside were looking bright and beautiful as Ace points his headlight to the dessert. Unfortunately lighting up that Deadites enormous dick.

"Come get some!" Ace yells, grin lighting up his blood splattered face.

"That's my line!"

Ace revs the engine and they rush towards the Deadites. Ash swings his saw and catches the O.R one just below the shoulder. Cleaving the arm off as Ace blows past. They drift into a spectacular 180 to face the Deadites again. Ash pumps his shot gun and fires, knocking the leg off of the straggler by the door.

Ace pauses his driving to reload his pistol, firing two quick shots at O.R Deadites. One hits the throat, causing a spectacular spray of blood over the garage and the other knocks out an eye. Not quite enough to put it down for good.

"One more time, Lucky Strike."

The bike lurches forward and Ash levels the saw at the Deadite as it lunges forward. He hears a grinding of metal and sparks fly as he swings, but the head is severed clear from the shoulders. Ace quickly steers the bike back toward the fallen Deadites and smashes its head under the front wheel, which reminds him of Jake's untimely end. God rest his soul.

"Carter's not gonna like that." Ace says, headlight illuminating a monstrous scratch and collection of dents in the side of his truck. Along with a healthy splatter of blood.

"I don't think he'll notice." Ash shrugs, putting his shotgun away and squeezing down into the side car as best he can.

"Sure I can't drive?"

Ace snorts and shakes his head, "You don't know the way."

Damn, he hated when Ace made a good point. He sits back as well as he can and huffs. The breeze was nice at least, and the stars were incredible out here.

"Thanks." Ace says, just loud enough to be heard over the engine and wind. He sounded lighter.

"Anytime, lucky strike. Fighting evil is my thing."

"How about we retire? Get back to Honduras, drop off that book and hit the sands." Ace says, sounding as convincing as a car salesman.

"Jacksonville?"

"Ashy you know I don't know what fucking state that is."

"It's a town."

"If it's with you, I'll go anywhere Ashley."

Ash looks up at Ace, and feels a warmth in his heart that he hadn't felt in a long time. He didn't want to drop the L bomb so soon, but he was happy to let this play out. He was ready to give up his demons to be happy now. It was easier to make that choice, with Ace by his side.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for Now this fic is done, but i will be adding a short epilouge some time soon so dont fret about the chapters. Itll be great and gay and all that Fun Stuff
> 
> Thanks for reading 💖💖


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